


Ramen Girl

by salt_witch



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Drama, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Friendship, Genderswap, Not Useless!Sakura, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no beta we die like men, some canon divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:19:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22170172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salt_witch/pseuds/salt_witch
Summary: Naho Uzumaki is a kunoichi living in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and she's going to be the Hokage! At least, that's what her dream is. It's probably easier said than done. In a time of tenuous peace, and frequent war, she'll take on whatever comes her way with plenty of hard work and determination. What's that? Romance? Well, maybe if she has a bit of extra time on the side.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 26
Kudos: 96





	1. Prologue: Enter Naho Uzumaki!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter consists of the episodes 1-5 of the original Naruto series, with the twist of Naruto being a girl instead! There's a few small changes to the story because of that. Next chapter starts the Land of Waves Arc!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my second fic! I started it in order to deal with writers block regarding my first fic, but it's actually been pretty enjoyable to write thus far. I haven't really decided if I want this to be a SasuNaru fic or a ShikaNaru fic, but hopefully I'll figure that out soon. There's also the (unlikely, tbh) possibility of a GaaraNaru fic.
> 
> Heads up for this chapter, I switch up aspects of Kakashi's bell test a bit. Hopefully you won't hate what I changed.
> 
> I chose the name Naho for Fem!Naruto because there really aren't great options: most fics go with a choice of Naru, still Naruto, or something else. I went with the third option. Naho means vegetable or ear of grain, depending on who you ask. It was the closest girl's name I could find to a name that literally means fishcake. 
> 
> If you're coming here from my other fic, I'm guessing you might enjoy my writing. Thanks for that! I'm pretty new to the whole world of writing fiction, especially fanfic, as most of the time I write essays about classic literature. I'm enjoying myself though, and isn't that what really matters?
> 
> Feel free to weigh in on whether you'd like this to be a SasuNaru or ShikaNaru fic!

There were a few things in the world that Naho Uzumaki didn’t understand. For example, why most of the other girls were fawning over boys by now while she was still more interested in ramen and sleep. Or, more importantly, why she couldn’t master the Clone Jutsu to save her life. 

Naho was daydreaming about food in the middle of class and twiddling her thumbs when a voice snapped her out of it. 

“Naho!” shouted her teacher, Iruka. 

She brought her head up off the desk and shook away the lasting reverie she’d been in.“Wha’?” she said airily. “I’m paying attention!” Her classmates laughed.

“Naho, you want to become a kunoichi, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, more than anything in the world!”

“Look,” he said. “You failed the last two graduation exams. If you really want to pass this time, you have to buckle down and study.”

“But Iruka!” she protested. “I’m the best in class at Transformation Jutsu! And I’m pretty good with shuriken and kunai! Seriously, I’ve got most of the basics down, I just…” She trailed off and said quietly “I can’t figure out the Clone Jutsu.”

Iruka raised his eyebrows. “Sasuke is the best in class at Transformation Jutsu. You’re a far second. And if you can’t master the Clone Jutsu then you don’t have most of the basics down! That’s a fundamental skill!”

Naho could feel the judgmental eyes of the people around her boring into the back of her head, and she could hear the unkind snickers that came with the disapproving looks. “Useless pretty girl,” she heard a boy whisper to his friend. She winced internally. A lot of people thought Naho was a ditz, maybe because of her bright blonde hair color, or maybe because she had her head up in the clouds a lot. She couldn’t be sure. What she was sure of was that if she were a boy, people would have given her a lot more leeway.

“Stupid Sasuke,” she muttered, glaring at the black haired boy. “It’s always Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. There’s more than one orphan in town, you know.”

Iruka cupped his ear and said, “What was that?”

She sighed. “Nothing, Iruka...just saying I’ll work harder.” When her teacher turned back to the blackboard, she rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. She heard a chuckle from behind her. It was Chōji Akimichi, who had seen her childish action. She turned her head towards him and gave a polite smile. He was one of the few people who was nice to her.

After class, Naho met up with Chōji, Shikamaru Nara, and Kiba Inuzuka. 

The three boys were her best friends. They were her only friends; besides maybe Hinata Hyūga (but she was very shy, so Naho couldn’t be sure). She was the token girl of their little delinquent band, but none of them really minded that. To be fair, it was also pretty easy to forget. While she had very long hair, most of the time she kept it up in a high, tight bun that made it look far shorter. Coupled with the way she dressed, it would be feasible to mistake her for a feminine boy. As such, nobody had ever commented on who she spent time with. Until that day.

“Oi, blondie!” shouted Ino Yamanaka.

Naho swiveled her head. “You’re also blonde,” she pointed out. Her friends were waiting for her, stopped just a little ways down the hall.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Ino with a shrug. “Don’t you ever get tired of running after those dumb boys?”

“No,” said Naho frowning. “They’re...they’re my friends!”

Ino laughed. “Friends?!” she said. “Oh come on! They’re only hanging out with you now so they get a chance to bang you later! Don’t fool yourself.”

Naho blinked. Ino had been nice when they were younger, but sometime after she turned ten, a bitchy attitude took its place. “What did you just say?” Naho asked angrily. Her friends were walking toward Ino with thunderous expressions on their faces.

“She’s our friend,” said Kiba. “Her bein’ a girl’s got nothin’ to do with it. Got that?”

Ino scoffed. “Whatever, dog boy,” she said. “Keep telling yourself that. All I know is that one of you three dummies is probably gonna’ end up with the little bimbo after knocking her —” She was interrupted by Iruka exiting the classroom. He was looking down at the girl with an expression that told her he was thoroughly unimpressed by her behavior. 

“I’m surprised at you, Ino,” he said. “I thought you were better than bullying.” The hint of a threat shone in his eyes. “Go along now. I’ll see you tomorrow at the exam.” Ino left quickly. Iruka placed a gentle hand on Naho’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked. “That was some pretty awful stuff she was saying, from what I picked up.”

Naho nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. “Thanks.”

“How about we go and get some ramen?” he offered.

“But she was gonna’ hang out with —” Kiba began, before he got cut off by Naho’s enthusiasm for her favorite food.

“Ramen?!” she said excitedly, any thought of Ino’s cruelty banished from her mind. “Hell yeah! I’ll catch up with you guys later!” she told her friends. She ran off, with Iruka on her tail, yelling at her to wait up for him.

Chōji shook his head and laughed. “Man, she loves ramen as much almost as much as I love barbeque,” he said.

“Nah,” disagreed Kiba. “I think she loves it more.”

“You two eat too much,” drawled Shikamaru lazily.

=====================================================================

“Iruka?” asked Naho at the Ichiraku Ramen stand.

“Yes?” said Iruka. 

“Could I ask you a favor?” she said.

“Would you like another bowl?”

“No, no, I was just wondering...could I try on your headband?” She pointed to his forehead.

Iruka’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Oh, no,” he chuckled. “This is my Leaf Village headband. You only get one when you graduate from the Academy and become a ninja. Don’t worry, you’ll get one tomorrow.”

“Fine!” she said grumpily. “But I want another bowl of ramen! With extra pork!”

Iruka blanched and made a squawk of indignation.

“ _Will I really get one tomorrow_?” wondered Naho. “ _I’ve failed two graduation exams in a row, and the test was on Clone Jutsu both times, so..._ ” She promised herself she’d give it her all anyways.

“Naho, out of curiosity, why do you want to be a ninja so badly?”

“Well, I want to be Hokage,” she explained. “Because then the whole village will have to acknowledge me, instead of disrespecting me and looking down on me like they do now! And I can’t be Hokage if I don’t graduate the academy first.”

Iruka smiled. “That’s a hard road,” he said. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“I’d do just about anything to be Hokage,” she answered. “I have to pass this exam tomorrow. Or I don’t know what I’ll do.”

=====================================================================

Iruka sighed sadly. He had really been hoping that Naho would pass the exam, but here he was, looking down at her feeble excuse for a duplicate.

Naho closed her eyes and put a palm to her face. “I know,” she said. “I don’t pass.”

“Iruka,” said Mizuki, the other instructor proctoring the exam. “Her Transformation Jutsu is excellent, and her physical coordination and stamina are quite good as well. And she did manage to come up with something. Surely we could make an exception just this once?”

Naho’s face lit up for a moment before Iruka’s answer dashed her hopes.

“All the others created at least three or more clones,” said Iruka disappointedly. “She’s only created one, and it barely counts at that. I can’t give her a passing mark.”

A lump formed in Naho’s throat. She ran out of the room with tear droplets flying from her eyes. 

“Mizuki,” said Iruka, grimacing. “Could you go after her? Maybe have a word with her? I’d do it myself, but I don’t think she wants to talk to me right now.”

“Of course,” said Mizuki with a smile. “I’ll be back soon.” As he turned his back, the polite smile morphed into a sickening grin. With this, he had an opportunity to steal the Scroll of Sealing. 

=====================================================================

Naho sat on a rooftop looking out at the sunset. She’d been so sure that she wanted to be Hokage but now she wasn’t even feeling confident about that. She was resilient, but everyone had a breaking point. Would doing something else be all that bad? ...Yes. She couldn’t really imagine it. For a woman from the Village Hidden in The Leaves, the only real options were to become a kunoichi or a housewife, and it was impossible for Naho to picture herself in the latter role. Just when she was truly getting lost in her own head and comfortably wallowing in her own insecurities, she heard a voice to her left.

“Hello,” said Mizuki. “I thought you might be up here.”

Naho glanced at the man and turned her head away quickly after that. “Why is Iruka so hard on me?” she asked.

“He’s tough but he’s not against you,” Mizuki replied. 

“He’s not against me?” Naho repeated sarcastically. “Then why? Why is it only me?”

“He wants you to do well and become strong with all his heart. You’re like a little sister to him. You two are the same...no parents...no family.”

Naho frowned. She knew that Mizuki was probably right. “I really wanted to pass the exam this time,” she confessed. “I mean, I tried my best. If I can’t do it next time, then maybe I’m really not cut out to be a ninja.”

“Well then, I guess I have to tell you,” said Mizuki coyly. “It’s supposed to be a secret, but I think I can let you in on it…”

Naho perked up. A secret would always be able to grab her attention.

=====================================================================

Naho had been disappointed when she saw that the first jutsu in the hidden scroll was called ‘Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu’. The Clone Jutsu was her worst one, after all, and it seemed that this was a far more advanced version of it. Yet, nearly an hour later, she was having more luck with it than she ever had with its parent jutsu.

Something about the Shadow Clone Jutsu was easier for Naho. With the regular Clone Jutsu, great amounts of chakra had always gone to waste and yet she never produced a successful clone. With this version of the jutsu, she found that her chakra was being consumed efficiently, and allowing her to accomplish her intended goal. 

“ _Damn it_ , _Naho_ ,” thought Iruka as he leapt through the trees. He knew that the blonde wanted to become Hokage with all of her heart, but when she’d failed her third graduation exam, he never expected her to react like this. “ _This time I can’t get you out of trouble!_ ” 

Iruka spotted a shock of bright hair when he entered the deeper woods at the edges of The Village Hidden in the Leaves. He paused and was sure that it was Naho when he saw her neon orange jacket on the ground beside her. She was training in a blank tank top and her trademark orange pants which matched her coat.

He descended from the treetops and landed.

“Naho…” he growled angrily. To his astonishment, she chuckled.

“Damn,” she said happily. “You found me. I only had time to learn one Jutsu.”

He looked over her in surprise. She was covered in scuff marks, and panting heavily. “ _She’s been learning a jutsu all this time?_ ” he realized.

“Listen!” exclaimed Naho. “I’m gonna’ show you this super amazing jutsu, and then you’re gonna’ let me graduate! Isn’t it true that I can graduate if I can do one of the jutsus here?”

“What?!” Iruka spluttered. “Who ever gave you that idea?” 

“Mizuki said so,” she answered. “He told me about the scroll, and this place and everything.”

“ _Mizuki did?_ ” thought Iruka. In a flash, he figured it out. Mizuki had lied to Naho in order to steal the scroll, and in her desperation to become a kunoichi, she had fallen for it. A flurry of kunai and shuriken came flying toward the pair. Iruka pushed Naho out of the way, and managed to avoid most of the attack; though a kunai had hit its mark.

“I’m impressed you found this place,” remarked Mizuki from up on a branch. He had a cloying smirk spread across his face. “Naho, give me that scroll.”

She looked back and forth between both men, as nervous sweat started to bead on her forehead. “Hold on a sec,” she said. “What’s going on here?”

“Naho,” said Iruka urgently. “Never give him that scroll! It’s a dangerous object containing forbidden ninjutsu. It was sealed…Mizuki used you in order to steal it for himself!”

Mizuki’s smirk stayed in place. “Iruka is only afraid of you getting that scroll,” he said.

“Mizuki, you liar!” shouted Iruka. “Don’t let him fool you!”

Naho wasn’t sure who to trust at this point.

“I’ll tell you the truth,” the Mizuki said maliciously. 

Iruka reacted violently. “You fool!” he screamed. “Don’t do that!”

“After an incident twelve years ago, a rule was created.”

“A rule?” asked Naho. Dread began to settle in the pit of her stomach.

“Well, that is,” he continued , “A rule everyone but you knows.”

That really bothered her. She couldn’t stand being left out of things. She’d been shunned her whole life. “Except me?! What is it?!”

“Stop it, Mizuki!” yelled Iruka. “It’s forbidden!” He didn’t really care about the rule, so much as who it revolved around. Iruka wasn’t sure how much damage the information could or would do to Naho’s feelings and psyche.

“The rule is that nobody can tell you that you’re secretly the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit!”

Naho blinked in horror. No. That couldn’t be true. Her? It had to be a lie.

“That’s right! You’re the evil demon who killed Iruka’s parents and destroyed our village all those years ago!”

“Stop it!” screamed Iruka. He didn’t want her to hear this sort of thing. 

“Everyone’s been deceiving you ever since,” Mizuki said cruelly. “Didn’t you think it was strange? Why everyone hated you so much?”

Tears were welling up in her eyes. “No! NO! NO NO NO!!” Naho screamed, with chakra flaring up all around her. 

“Nobody accepts you!” yelled Mizuki back, an evil smile having replaced his already sinister smirk. “That’s why Iruka hates you too!”

Iruka hoped Naho wasn’t taking wjst Mizuki was saying to heart. Albeit, when he had first met Naho at the age of 17, he’d viewed her and the Nine-Tailed Fox as one and the same, but that feeling had quickly gone away. Anybody so kind and optimistic couldn’t possibly be that beast. He loved Naho. He recalled the conversation that he’d had with the Third Hokage after she failed the graduation exam again. 

“ _Iruka_ ,” the Third Hokage had said seriously. “ _Naho grew up without the love of parents. Everyone avoids her like the plague after what happened. That’s why she misbehaves. It’s the only way anybody notices her. She pretends that she’s okay, but she really is in pain._ ”

“Die, fox!” said Mizuki, throwing a giant shuriken at her.

Naho crawled as quickly as she could, even whilst fear consumed her. 

“Get down, Naho!” Iruka dove towards her when she held herself close to the ground, and he protected her with his own body. The massive weapon hit dead on and blood started to stain his flak vest.

Naho turned her head. “W-why?” she stuttered.

“Because you and I are the same,” he said. “After my parents died, nobody paid attention to me, or gave me any support. I wasn’t a good student in school. I was the class clown...because I wanted people to pay attention to me. I couldn’t get attention through excellence, so I did dumb things. It was so hard…” Tears were pouring down his face like a waterfall. “Isn’t that right, Naho? You felt so lonely...right? And you were hurting inside, right? I’m so sorry. If I had been more responsible, maybe you wouldn’t have suffered so much.”

Mizuki let out a cold, arrogant laugh. “Oh please!” he scoffed. “Iruka has always hated you, ever since you killed his parents! He’s only saying that to get the scroll back!”

Naho felt conflicted. On one hand, Iruka was like an older brother. He took her to get ramen, and he worried about her and cared for her. On the other hand...what if Mizuki was right? If she was really the Nine-Tailed Fox, well, she didn’t even want to think about that...she ran away as fast as she could.

“She’s going to use that scroll to take revenge on the village,” taunted Mizuki. “Didn’t you see her eyes? Those are the eyes of the Demon Fox.”

Iruka pulled himself up into a proper posture as he yanked the oversized shuriken embedded in him out of his back. “No…” he said determinedly. He was panting with exertion. “She...isn’t like that at all!”

“All I want is to kill the fox and get that scroll. I’ll take care of you later.” Mizuki took off, running after her.

“I won’t let you!” Iruka followed.

=====================================================================

The Third Hokage watched the scene in the forest play out through his crystal ball. He furrowed his brow worriedly. Mizuki had spilled classified information, and Sarutobi wasn’t sure if the situation would end safely. If she got upset enough, and learned enough from the scroll, Naho could undo her seal. If that happened, the havoc it would wreak was unspeakable.

=====================================================================

Naho was leaning up against a tree which blocked her from Iruka and Mizuki’s sight. She was honestly scared of what Mizuki might do if he found her, and she also needed to resolve her feelings as fast as possible. Hiding was the most effective option.

“What’s in it to protect the one who killed your family?” she heard a voice she recognized as Mizuki’s say.

“I’m not gonna’ let a stupid idiot like you get your hands on that scroll,” retorted Iruka. 

“You’re the idiot,” said Mizuki snidely. “Naho’s the same as me.” Naho heard her other teacher murmur something, but it was too quiet for her to pick up. Mizuki kept talking. “Anyone can do what they want once they have the scroll. There’s no way that monster child, that Nine-Tailed Fox, wouldn’t take advantage of the power of that scroll!”

“You’re right,” said Iruka. Naho’s heart skipped a beat. ...So it was true. He never cared for her at all. 

“...If she were the Demon Fox Spirit,” elaborated Iruka. “But Naho is different!” he continued. “I know that she’s an exceptional student. She works very hard, but she’s clumsy and single-minded at the same time. Everyone rejects her, but because of that, she knows the meaning of human suffering.” His voice was slowly becoming more passionate. “She is _not_ the Nine-Tailed Fox. She is Naho Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!”

Naho was touched. Hot, salty tears were streaming down her cheeks, but they were from joy, not sadness. “ _So he does care_ ,” she thought.

Mizuki couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He sneered in disgust. “You are so gullible,” he spat. “You know, I was gonna’ kill you later, but now I’ve changed my mind. Die!” He spun one of his ginormous shuriken on his hand, allowing it to quickly pick up speed. He moved toward.

“ _So this is it for me_ ,” thought Iruka ruefully. If this was where it ended, he was satisfied with his last words. Just as he expected a blade to hit him, he heard a noise that made him look up. Naho had jumped out and kicked Mizuki away. He went flying and skidded across the forest floor.

“If you _ever_ lay a hand on Iruka,” she said threateningly, “I’ll _kill_ you.” The look in her eyes was cold and full of righteous fury.

Mizuki stood up and chuckled. “Please,” he said. “I could take a weakling like you apart with one blow.”

“Try it,” remarked Naho. “I’ll strike back one thousand fold. Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!”

Iruka recognized the seal she was using, but he couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t even come close to mastering the prerequisite technique yet. Since the clones were solid, the amount of chakra the Shadow Clone Jutsu required barred some Jōnin from using it; and the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu consumed far more. Suddenly, duplicates of Naho appeared. There were easily three hundred clones. Iruka’s jaw dropped. “ _Naho! You’ve…_ ” Shock and awe couldn’t begin to describe what he felt. His surprise was quickly overtaken by his pride for her. “ _Those aren’t just illusions! That’s an incredibly advanced ninjutsu!_ ”

Mizuki looked around himself, full of fear. He was being faced down by a horde of angry clones and they were all taunting him. He screamed in terror as the army overwhelmed him.

=====================================================================

“How much longer?” whined Naho. She wasn’t patient, and Iruka said he had a surprise. 

“You can open your eyes now,” said Iruka after a long moment. 

Naho slowly opened her eyes, and the glint of sunlight was harsh; but she quickly noticed that her mentor didn’t have his village headband. She felt the weight on her forehead and pressed it to find the touch of cool metal upon her fingertips. She grinned. “Iruka…” she murmured. “I-I-” She didn’t know what to say. 

“Congratulations on graduating. We’ll have ramen tonight in celebration.”

She tackled him into a hug.

=====================================================================

Sarutobi scowled down at the photo before him. He understood that Naho was somewhat abnormal, but he thought she would have done something with her appearance; even if she only dressed up a little for her registration photo. That wasn’t too much of a problem though. The real issue was that she wasn’t wearing her Leaf Village headband in the picture. “Take it over,” he said.

“What?!” Naho said loudly. “Why?” She genuinely didn’t understand what was wrong.

“The Shinobi Registration Photo is very important. It’s essential that you present yourself in the best light possible. Where is your headband?”

“Oh,” said Naho, blushing. She rubbed the back of her head bashfully and said, “I didn’t want it to get scratched up before graduation…”

The Third Hokage raised his brow. “I see,” he said skeptically. 

Naho pouted. She had one solution to this obstacle. She’d created the Sexy Jutsu before she fully understood just how demeaning it was not only to her personally but also to her gender as a whole. Generally, she tried to avoid using it. But desperate times called for desperate measures. She transformed into a buxom, naked woman, obscured only by a thin layer of smoke. “Oh, please, sir, I’m begging you,” she pleaded in a false, sultry voice.

The Hokage fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Blood spurted from his nose and he fell back in his chair with a lust struck sigh.

During Naho’s jutsu, a small boy ran into the room declaring war on the Hokage. The old man recovered from his lustful shock just as the boy tripped over his own feet. Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked back and forth between Naho, who had just dispelled her jutsu, and his grandson. “ _If it’s not one thing, it’s another_ ,” he thought exasperatedly. “Konohamaru,” he said tiredly, “Are you okay?”

The young boy, Konohamaru, was sobbing. A man wearing an all black outfit, a bandanna, and a pair of round glasses ran in. “Honorable Grandson!” he exclaimed worriedly. “Are you alright?”

Konohamaru finally stopped crying. “There must have been a trap!” he said. 

The man in black looked around the room and said, “There’s no trap, Honorable Grandson.”

“Then _he_ must have done it!” he accused, pointing at Naho. She looked at the child. She hadn’t really been focusing, but his words had drawn her attention.

Naho glared at him, and walked over, picking Konohamaru up by his shirt collar. “You tripped all by yourself, dumbass!” she yelled. “And I’m a girl, damn it!”

“Hey, let go of him!” shouted Konohamaru’s mentor. “He is the Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage!”

That was news to Naho, but it didn’t matter to her much. She squinted at the boy and weighed her options. While his grandfather was in the room, she was sure that the Third Hokage was wise enough to know when somebody had it coming to them. 

Konohamaru gritted his teeth, and a few seconds later, the expression turned to a smug grin. “ _She stopped just as soon as she learned who I am_ ,” he thought confidently. “ _Just like my four eyed teacher. Just like everyone else._ ” He decided to goad her on a little. “What’s the matter?! Weren’t you gonna’ hit me?! I bet you’re too scared ‘cause I’m the Hokage’s grandson, hu—” A fist came down over his head.

“I don’t give a shit if you’re the Hokage himself!” snapped Naho. “Arrogant little snot!” Her hit downed the small boy immediately. She rolled her eyes in response. “ _Talk about a pushover_ ,” she thought.

The Jonin’s jaw dropped and the Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose. “ _That girl always goes overboard_ ,” thought Sarutobi.

“Listen,” explained Konohamaru’s teacher in a voice that indicated he believed he was superior. “You are the Honorable Grandson of the Third Hokage. Even though that tramp hit you, you must not associate with her kind. Nothing good will come of it. This is your masterful teacher Ebisu saying this…” Naho tuned him out.

“ _TRAMP?!”_ raged Naho internally. “ _Where does this jackass get off calling me that?!”_ She could hear him spewing more self important drivel, but she was still pissed off by the things he’d said about her. 

“We will discuss this later, Naho,” said Sarutobi. Ebisu continued to ramble. “You’re dismissed for now.”

“Thank you,” said Naho politely. She was boisterous, but she could still exhibit manners when she felt like it. She left the room quietly. Konohamaru was right behind her.

Ebisu finished his rant, only to discover that his pupil was gone.

Sarutobi worried for his grandson.

=====================================================================

While she headed home, Naho could detect what may have been the least effective tail she’d ever heard of. The person following her may have been trying to sneak, but clearly they were bad at it. Eventually, she got fed up with it.

“Stop following me!” she said, turning around sharply. She looked at the painted sheet her stalker was hiding behind. “Your disguise is _awful_ ,” she said in a withering tone. 

Konohamaru revealed himself from his ineffective camouflage. “You’re pretty good,” he said. “Your reputation is well earned. I will allow you to make me your apprentice! But first you’ve _got_ to teach me that Sexy Jutsu you used to beat Grandpa Hokage!”

“No,” deadpanned Naho. “I shouldn’t have even made that Jutsu,” she said. 

“Are you _really_ a girl?” He looked at her chest in a way that wasn’t stealthy at all.

“Yes I’m a girl, you pervy kid!” said Naho, angrily crossing her arms across her chest. She took her hair out of its usual tight bun, allowing it to fall to her upper thighs. “See?” she said grumpily, as a frown crossed over her round face.

Konohamaru blinked. “Whoa! You _are_ a girl! Your hair is so loooong.”

“Told you,” said Naho tying her hair back up. “Anyways, the answer’s no.”

“Oh please oh please oh please!” begged Konohamaru. “Come on Big Sis! You’ve just gotta’ teach me, Boss Lady!” 

“Boss Lady?” said Naho. 

“Boss Lady! Boss Lady! Boss Lady!” repeated Konohamaru.

Naho liked the sound of that. She sighed. She really couldn’t believe she was going to to do this. “Fine,” she acquiesced. “Under one condition. You buy me some ramen, and…” She thought about what would actually be helpful to her. “You convince Old Man Hokage to teach me a new jutsu. Nothing too hard. Just something simple. You know, C or D rank.” She stuck out her palm for a handshake. Konohamaru eagerly took it.

“So what’s the first step?” asked Konohamaru.

“Anatomy lessons,” said Naho. “I figured it out easy because I have the advantage of being a girl. But you don’t. So we need the geezer’s creepy magazines.” A look of disgust crossed her face. “He keeps them all over his office, so we’ve just gotta' sneak in.”

In the end, it was relatively easy to secure the magazines from the Third Hokage’s office. Sarutobi hadn’t locked the doors, and when he briefly left for lunch, Konohamaru and Naho snuck in and took them. 

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to go to the bathhouse?” wondered Konohamaru.

“No. Because to sneak in you would need to have a handle on the jutsu already,” said Naho. “ _That and I always get kicked out because half the village thinks I’m the Nine-Tailed Fox…_ ” she reminded herself.

=====================================================================

Naho was getting tired of teaching Konohamaru. After a couple of hours in the woods, he wasn’t much closer to mastering the jutsu, consistently transforming into an ugly woman, no matter how hard he tried.

“Ugh!” she groaned in frustration. “Look! Just think of a pretty girl and transform into her! It really shouldn’t be that hard! You’ve done regular Transformation Jutsu, right?” Konohamaru nodded. “It’s like that! Just a lot pervier.”

Naho’s simple tip helped. After thirty minutes, Konohamaru had made more progress than he did in the two hours beforehand. They sat down to rest, and drink some water.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” mentioned Naho passively, “You seem kinda’ obsessed with beating the old geezer. Why is that?”

“My name is Konohamaru,” said the boy. “Grandpa gave me my name. He named me after the village, so it should be easy to remember, right? But nobody ever calls me that,” he spat. “When people look at me, they only ever see the grandson of the Third Hokage. Nobody sees me for who I really am. I can’t stand it anymore. That’s why I’ve got to become the Hokage as soon as I can!” 

Naho understood how he felt. When adults looked at her, the only saw the monster she imprisoned. When people her age saw her, she was always the outcast, the weak link, the nuisance. The failure. There were exceptions to the rule, of course. Iruka and the Third Hokage. Shikamaru and Chōji, along with Kiba (but he had a bit of a mean streak, so with him it was a toss up). It stung. She wanted to be seen for who she was too.

“I get it,” Naho said somberly. “Pretty much no one calls me my name either. But you won’t win the position of Hokage that easily. Because if you’re really serious about that title...you’ll have to go through me first!” 

=====================================================================

“Lord Hokage!” said Iruka as he landed on the rooftop the village leader was standing on. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Iruka,” greeted Sarutobi.

“Did Naho resubmit her Ninja Registration form?”

“She will tomorrow. We didn’t have the chance to finish retaking the photo today.”

“Alright,” Iruka said amicably. “When I lectured her at the ramen stand the other night, she said she’ll make everyone accept her now that she’s a ninja.” He smiled. “She’s been pretty happy.”

“It might not be so easy for her to realise that dream,” said the Hokage seriously. 

“Huh?” said Iruka. He wished nothing but the best for Naho, and the Hokage’s words weren’t very encouraging.

“As you’re aware, only the villagers who fought the Nine-Tailed Fox twelve years ago know that she contains the beast’s spirit,” elaborated Sarutobi. “I decreed that nobody shall speak of that, and those who have broken that rule have been punished severely.” Iruka nodded. “Now our children know nothing of it. _That_ may be the only good development for Naho. Before the Fourth Hokage trapped the monster and died, he wished for the villagers to regard her as a hero.”

“A hero?” asked Iruka. He’d never heard this part of the story before.

“The Fourth Hokage sealed the creature within her navel just after she was born and her umbilical cord was cut. As the demon’s receptacle, Naho rescued the Village Hidden in the Leaves. However, the villagers don’t see her like that. Some even say she is the Nine-Tailed Fox itself. Slowly but surely, that attitude has been passed on to a number of her peers. Iruka, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, sir?”

“When someone is hated, and people refuse to accept their existence, they see it in the eyes of the people around them. She doesn’t have a lot of support. All I ask is that you care for Naho unconditionally.”

“I promise,” swore Iruka.

=====================================================================

Naho and Konohamaru had continued to practice after resting, and by the time that afternoon arrived, Konohamaru managed to develop a relatively effective version of the Jutsu he so desperately wanted to learn. Unfortunately for the boy, his training was interrupted by Ebisu, who’d finally managed to find him and his teacher.

“There you are!” exclaimed Ebisu, looking down at the pair. He eyed Naho with a sneer of revulsion. “Honorable Grandson, we must go now.”

“No way!” protested Konohamaru. “I want to beat Grandpa now so I can win the title of Lord Hokage! Go away!”

“A Hokage must know virtue, honor, etiquette, wisdom, loyalty, faith, judgement, duty, and more,” Ebisu lectured. “He must master more than one thousand skills and techniques, and then —”

Konohamaru was done listening. “Transform!” he announced. “Take this! Sexy Jutsu!” 

Ebisu blushed hotly and made a flustered noise, but he did not fall to the jutsu as the Third Hokage had done. “What kind of a disgraceful technique is that?!” he said furiously. “I am a gentleman! Erotic attacks like that will never defeat me!” Now he was pulling on Konohamaru’s scarf and trying to drag the boy back to the village by force. 

Naho decided to intervene. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Several copies of her appeared and filled the clearing. 

Konohamaru was very impressed, but Ebisu had definitely witnessed the technique before, oftentimes used by more intimidating ninja than Naho. He started to boast and walk toward the clones. “Boss Lady…” murmured Konohamaru worriedly. 

Naho transformed. “Harem Jutsu!” she said as she performed her new technique. “ _Twice in one day_ ,” she thought regretfully. “ _I really gotta’ learn more so I can stop using that._ ” Regardless of Naho’s feelings, her opponent fell for it. His lust overwhelmed him, and he was down for the count. “ _Men_ ,” she thought, rolling her eyes.

=====================================================================

“I can’t even beat that pathetic teacher of mine!” whined Konohamaru. “I want to be Hokage so badly! To be recognized by everybody!”

“It’s really not that simple,” said Naho. “You know that, right? I mean, it’s only given to the greatest ninja in the village. In the whole Land of Fire. Everyone has to trust you and believe in you. My life hasn’t been easy,” she said. “It’s been one struggle after another. And after all that, I found one person who accepts me. I had to go through a lot, just for one person. You’d better push yourself.”

“For what?” said Konohamaru.

“Earning the title of Lord Hokage is a brutal path,” Naho replied. “There is no shortcut.”

Konohamaru remembered what she’d said about beating her before he could become Hokage. He scoffed. “Why should I listen to you anyways?” he said. “You know what, I won’t be your apprentice anymore. From now on, you’re my rival.”

Naho smirked. “Unfortunately for you,” she remarked, “I graduate from the Ninja Academy tomorrow. But I’ll consider you my equal someday, when we fight for the title of Lord Hokage. Remember that, Konohamaru.” She walked off and he gave her a salute.

=====================================================================

Naho woke up early on the morning of her graduation, in order to get ready. It was a special day, and she wanted to eat Ichiraku Ramen for breakfast because of that. 

Naho picked up her Leaf Village headband and went to the mirror. She debated how to tie the forehead protector on, and looked at her hair critically. Normally, she kept it out of the way because it wasn’t practical for training. She didn’t keep her hair long out of choice. The owners of the town’s hair salon had always kicked her out, because like many others, they believed she was the Nine-Tailed Fox in human form. Additionally, she’d never had the chance to cut it herself, because it was remarkably thick, and a kunai didn’t work very well. Today she decided she could make an exception to the usual rule of keeping it tied up.

Naho put on her jumpsuit and smoothed out any wrinkles in the fabric. The outfit was cheap and tacky. It was a consequence of being poor and parentless. Nevertheless, it was also comfortable and warm. Those qualifiers were enough for her.

On Naho’s way to Ichiraku Ramen, she was intercepted by Konohamaru, who jumped out in an attempt to ambush her, and promptly tripped. She glanced down at him. “What are you doing, Konohamaru?” she asked.

“Fight me! Right here!” exclaimed her self-appointed rival. 

“Sorry, no can do,” refused Naho. “See this headband?” She directed his gaze to her forehead. “As of today, I’m officially a kunoichi.”

“Whoa!” Konohamaru said admiringly. “Congrats big sis!”

“Yeah,” chuckled Naho. “Speaking of which, I’m getting ramen for breakfast, and you still owe me from yesterday, so come along.”

“Alright!” said the boy enthusiastically. “Oh yeah! I talked to Grandpa! He says he’ll teach you the Body Flicker Technique today! And the Tempo-something Para-something too!”

“Tempo-something Para-something?” asked Naho in confusion. 

“I can’t remember the words. It’s all complicated.”

“Ah, whatever. So long as they’re good!”

The duo arrived at Ichiraku Ramen shortly. “Naho!” greeted the owners, Teuchi and Ayame. They spotted her headband quite quickly. “Graduation!” said Teuchi. “Congrats! Today’s on the house.”

Naho’s face lit up. “Really?!” she said, excited. “Thanks guys!”

“Do you want anything?” Ayame asked Konohamaru. 

“Umm...miso with extra seaweed?” he requested.

“Can do!”

After their meal, Naho had to say goodbye to Konohamaru, because she wanted to be at the Ninja Academy early, and she wouldn’t be able to do that unless she hurried.

Naho arrived at the Ninja Academy before nearly anyone else. The only other person there was Sasuke Uchiha, who was brooding at a table in the middle of the class. She looked around awkwardly, before deciding to sit next to him. Sitting all alone with only one other person in the classroom would just be too uncomfortable. The two sat in silence until more of their peers arrived and began to talk.

=====================================================================

Sakura Haruno’s mother called for her from downstairs, imploring her to leave the house soon. Sakura had been making sure she looked nice for graduation, and while she knew her mother was right, it still infuriated her. “I was just thinking of leaving!” she shouted back at her mother. **“** ** _Damn it_** **!”** Inner Sakura complained. **“** ** _When are you going to stop treating me like a child?! SHAAAA_** **!”**

Sakura encountered her former best friend, and current rival, Ino, shortly after leaving her house. “Sakura,” said Ino.

“Ino,” Sakura said coolly.

“Who would’ve thought you could graduate,” ridiculed the platinum blonde.

“Ancient history has nothing to do with it. As of today, we’re both full fledged ninjas. I won’t lose to you anymore!” She started to walk faster, and the other girl sped up to match her pace. Sakura increased her speed. Ino did the same. In no time at all, they were racing.

=====================================================================

Naho felt a tap on her shoulder while she was sitting and waiting for orientation to start. She turned her beaming face towards the person who had touched her. It was Shikamaru. “Oh,” he said, his voice still lazy and drawn out, but as close to shocked as she’d ever heard it. “You look different.”

“Different how?” said Naho curiously.

“Like a girl,” Shikamaru said honestly. “ _She better not start acting like other chicks_ ,” he thought secretly. He didn't get along with most women. She was the one and only exception to the rule. 

“Okay…” Naho said slowly. She really didn’t think she’d really changed her appearance all that much, and she was under the impression that she’d looked like a girl before, but it seemed her friend disagreed. 

“ _He’s right_ , _she does look different_ ,” thought Sasuke when he spared a very brief glance in her direction.

Sakura and Ino burst into the classroom doors passionately, and immediately broke into an argument about which of them had won their petty race. When they spotted Sasuke, the two dropped that argument in lieu of another. 

Sakura ran over to the table Naho and Sasuke were sitting at, pushing past Choji, whom Naho had been talking to, and shoving Naho off her seat on the bench. “Hi Sasuke,” said Sakura cheerfully. “Mind if I sit next to you?” He didn’t reply.

“No way!” shouted Ino. “If anyone gets to sit next to him, it should be me! I was in the classroom first!”

“No, I was!”

More girls swarmed around the table and a debate broke out as to who had the right to sit next to Sasuke. Naho pulled herself up off the ground, and maneuvered through the crowd of other girls. She was the smallest in the class, which made it easier in some ways but harder in others. She had to avoid being trampled.

Naho didn’t understand the hype around Sasuke Uchiha. Sure, he was skilled, and mysterious, and handsome, and...okay, so Naho understood the hype, but that _didn’t_ mean she would buy into it! He was still arrogant, and rude, and moody. Personality mattered a lot more than looks, in her not-so humble opinion.

Naho made her way to Sasuke’s side of the table, and clambered up on top of it, giving him a dirty look. He returned it in equal measure. “Hey,” Naho said angrily, “Next time, maybe make sure your groupies don’t knock me to the floor?” The question was rhetorical and sarcastic.

“Naho!” yelled Sakura. “Don’t glare at Sasuke!”

Suddenly, most of the girls in the classroom were directing fury toward Naho. She couldn’t care less. This hateful staring contest was more important to her. Lighting zapped between Sasuke’s eyes and hers. They loathed each other.

As her classmates formed a mob, Naho felt somebody bump her from behind. She was pitched forward, and her lips landed in a lock with Sasuke’s. It wasn’t so much a kiss as it was them mashing their teeth together uncomfortably and trying to seperate as fast as they could. Sasuke grabbed her head roughly, and pulled it away from him.

Naho made a series of disgusted noises, and while they weren't quite matched in intensity by Sasuke, it was clear he wasn’t happy about the situation either. “Why does your mouth taste like toothpaste?!” she said. “It’s like, 11:00AM! Did you not eat breakfast?!”

“No, I didn’t. Why does your mouth taste like noodles?!” 

“I like ramen!” shrieked Naho. “And at least I’m not starving myself!” She was vaguely aware of a dark energy emanating from behind her. She turned around to see the group of girls still volleying their negative emotion at her. She blanched. This didn’t seem like it would end well.

“Naho…” seethed Sakura.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” interrupted Chōji, who Shikamaru was standing next to. The latter of the two looked particularly displeased, and his vision kept darting back and forth between Naho and Sasuke. “I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding. Right, Sasuke?” He gave him a meaningful look. 

Sasuke squinted. “Yeah,” he muttered. He turned to the gang of girls staring Naho down. “Leave her alone,” he said. 

The girls all bitched and moaned, but agreed with his request reluctantly. Naho turned tomato red. She was embarrassed that her friends and Sasuke (of all people) had ended up protecting her from her peers’ wrath, but she’d rather have endured that than a series of punches to the face. It was for the best.

=====================================================================

Iruka arrived to the classroom shortly after his students, and announced that he’d be placing everyone into three man squads. Naho paid little attention, but made sure not to miss her name. 

Sakura knew that three man squads meant she had a chance at being paired with Sasuke, which she looked forward to very much. Of course, there was also the chance that Ino could be paired with her crush, and she couldn’t stand that thought. “Three man squads, huh?” said Ino pointedly. “I wonder who’s going to end up with Sasuke?”

“I don’t know,” said Sakura. **“** ** _Obviously it’ll be me_** **!”** Inner Sakura screamed furiously. **“** ** _SHAAAAA_** **!!!”**

Iruka continued to name squads whilst his students prayed for the teams they wanted

“ _Anyone but Sasuke_ ,” Naho desperately hoped.

“ _Please put me on the same team as Sasuke,_ ” wished Sakura. “ _And keep those blonde skanks away from him_!” She shot dirty looks toward Naho and Ino.

“ _I don’t want to be on a team with anyone_ ,” thought Sasuke.

“Team 7 will consist of Naho Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha.” 

The three hung their heads in defeat. 

“ _Of course_ ,” Sasuke lamented. “ _A fangirl and the brain dead dumbass I accidentally kissed_.”

“ _DAMN IT_!” thought Naho, annoyed.

“ _Sasuke and Naho_ ,” speculated Sakura. “ _Well, you win some, you lose some_.”

Team 8 was Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyūga, and Shino Aburame. Team 9 was comprised of a few students who Naho didn’t actually know. Team 10 was Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chōji Akimichi. Naho would trade places with Ino any day of the week.

=====================================================================

Iruka dismissed everyone after they’d been put into teams, and informed them that they’d meet their Jōnin instructors the following morning, which meant they had the rest of the day to themselves.

Naho saw Sakura walking down the path from the Ninja Academy and decided to catch up with her. “Sakura!” she said. Sakura stopped.

“What do you want?” she said.

Naho was acutely aware of the nasty look Sakura was giving her. It seemed that she was still jealous over Sasuke and Naho’s mistaken kiss. “I just wanted to say sorry about earlier,” said Naho. “I know that you like that bastard, so uh, yeah. But I swear, it was an accident! I’m not ‘going after him’ or whatever. I actually kind of hate him.”

Sakura gave her a doubtful look, but after a moment, seemed to believe her. “Fine,” she said. “I forgive you.”

“Thanks. I mean, if we’re gonna’ be on the same team, we should get along, right?”

“Yeah,” agreed Sakura. “I guess you’re right. I was wondering something though...has your hair always been that long? I’ve never seen it down.”

“Yep!” said Naho.

“Wow. Where do you get it cut? And what shampoo and conditioner do you use?”

“Uh...I’ve never cut it. And er...conditioner?”

Sakura’s face dropped in a mixture of horror and confusion. She didn't really get along with Naho, but then, she hadn't interacted with her much. More importantly, the code of womanhood dictated that she help remedy this situation. “Oh my God,” she said. “Come with me! I’m giving you a haircut! We have to fix this!”

Naho was bewildered but went along with the other girl’s ministrations.

=====================================================================

Sakura had dragged Naho to her house, and taken care of the blonde’s hair lavishly. She shampooed and conditioned it thoroughly, before cropping her locks to her upper back, and styling her hair into pigtails; after that, she told Naho what to do to keep it healthy. All in all, it was a very kind gesture. 

“Thank you,” Naho said with a soft smile. She stroked her hair, marveling at how much softer it felt. “Whoa…” she whispered.

“No prob! Honestly, I just can’t believe you’ve never had a haircut. How’d that happen?”

Naho didn’t know how to explain it to Sakura without revealing that her body was the only thing between the Village Hidden in the Leaves and the Nine-Tailed Fox. “Long story,” she said. She took a look at the clock. She was supposed to train with the Third Hokage at 5:00PM, but as it was, she was cutting it awfully close. “I um, actually have training scheduled soon...so I’ve really gotta’ go, but this was super nice! Thanks! See you tomorrow!”

“Okay!” said Sakura, watching her new acquaintance rush down the stairs. 

Naho exclaimed “Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Haruno!” as she ran out the door. 

=====================================================================

Naho hadn’t known that the Hokage was such a good teacher, but it was a pleasant turn of events. She supposed it made sense. He knew a lot. And as far as Naho was concerned, he was ancient, so she definitely wasn’t his first student. The jutsu that Konohamaru hadn’t been able to remember the name of was the Temporary Paralysis Jutsu. It only used two hand seals and wasn’t very difficult, so he’d taught it to Naho quickly.

After that, the Third Hokage had moved on to the Body Flicker Technique. “The speed and distance you can travel with the Body Flicker Technique is dependent on how much chakra you use, and how effectively,” he explained. “You have an advantage because you have a lot of chakra, but your control...leaves something to be desired.”

“Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?” said Naho. She was slightly offended by his statement.

Sarutobi laughed a little. “Oh, no,” he said, “I didn’t mean anything bad by it. The more chakra you have, the harder it is to control. It’s easier to lift a 5 pound weight than a 50 pound weight, right?” Naho nodded. “See? That’s the situation you’re in.”

“Oh! Well then, how do I get better control?”

“It takes time,” said the Hokage. “The basic concept is using the exact amount of chakra you need. Some ways to practice are tree and water walking. But I’ll leave those to your Jōnin instructor. For now, we’re just trying to make sure you can use the Body Flicker Technique at all, no matter how well.”

“Got it,” Naho said with a nod. 

The two practiced until late that evening, when at last, Naho pulled it off, seemingly teleporting to one side of the room to the other. It was still incredibly clumsy, but she’d done it. “Great job!” encouraged Sarutobi. “Get some rest, and come back tomorrow. With any luck, soon you’ll have two new skills.”

Naho grinned. She was glad she’d made that deal with Konohamaru.

=====================================================================

Naho had overslept. She was supposed to be at the Academy to meet her new instructor by 9:00AM, but when she woke up, it was already 9:14AM. Luckily, the Jōnin in charge of her squad was going to be far, far later than she was.

“You’re late!” scolded Sakura when Naho arrived. 

“I know, I know,” yawned the blonde. “I was up late learning new jutsus.”

“New jutsus?” 

“Yeah, the Hokage was helping me,” she said.

“How did _you_ get a lesson with the Hokage?” said Sasuke condescendingly. “ _Her hair is shorter than yesterday,_ ” he noticed.

“I’m friends with his grandson,” Naho said. “Stupid emo boy,” she muttered.

“So what were they?” asked Sakura curiously.

“The Temporary Paralysis Jutsu and the Body Flicker Technique. They’re super cool!”

“So, basic skills,” said Sasuke.

“Nobody asked you!” said Naho from between gritted teeth. He approached her with a cocky smirk.

Sakura sighed. She wanted to like Naho, she really did. But she wasn’t making it easy by picking fights with Sakura’s crush. “Please!” she said. “Can’t you two _try_ to get along?”

“I’ll get along with him when he stops being a prick!”

“Whatever.”

They turned away from each other and sat at tables far apart.

Three hours later, their teacher hadn’t arrived. “Arghhh!” complained Naho. “I can’t believe this dude! I thought we were supposed to meet here at 9:00!” 

“ _You were late too_ ,” thought Sasuke.

“You know what?” said Naho, grabbing a blackboard eraser. “He deserves this.” She cracked the door just a little, and put the eraser in between the wall and the edge of the sliding door, so that it would fall on whoever opened the door further.

“He’s a Jōnin,” said Sakura. “I doubt he’s going to fall for that.”

Naho shrugged. “Maybe. But it’ll be funny if he does.”

At last, after another ten minutes, the door opened. A tall man with spiky gray hair and a face mask entered. He was using his Leaf forehead protector as a makeshift eye patch, and wore an outfit consisting almost entirely of black, with a thick, green kevlar vest over it. The eraser dropped, and hit his head without issue.

Naho began to giggle. “I can’t believe you fell for it!” she said through her laughs. “That’s what you get for being so late!”

“Sorry! I told her not to!” Sakura said frantically.

Sasuke remained expressionless.

“My first impressions of this group…” mused their instructor, “I hate all of you.” 

=====================================================================

“So I guess some introductions are in order,” he said. “Tell me about yourselves.”

“What should we say?” said Sakura.

“Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams. That sort of thing.”

Naho raised her hand high in the air. “Shouldn’t you tell us about you first?” she blurted.

“Oh. I guess. My name is Kakashi Hatake. Likes...I’m not particularly inclined to tell you. Dislikes...that’s on a need to know basis. As for hobbies, I have lots of them. And I’ve never really considered my dreams before.”

“Great,” whispered Sakura to Naho. “So all we really know is his name.” Naho nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

“Who wants to go next?” said Kakashi. 

Naho jumped at the offer. “I will!” she said, louder than necessary. “I’m Naho Uzumaki! I like ramen and my friends and Iruka! I dislike the three minutes I have to wait for instant ramen. Three minutes isn’t instant.” She pouted as she pointed the technicality out. “I also don’t like Sasuke and Ino!” Sasuke smirked. He felt the same way about her. Sakura wasn’t sure whether to get angry with her for insulting Sasuke, or agree with her opinion on Ino. “My hobbies are training, and taking care of houseplants. And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage ever, so the whole village will have to acknowledge me and treat me like a person!”

Kakashi smirked in amusement. “ _Well_ , _th_ _e reputation she has isn’t wrong_ ,” he thought “ _Plenty of energy_. _Maybe a bit too much_.”

“Pinky. Your turn.”

“Okay...my name’s Sakura Haruno, not pinky,” she said, scrunching her face in annoyance. “My likes are…” she looked at Sasuke and blushed. “My hobbies are…” Another glance in the boy’s direction. “My dreams are…” One last look and a high pitched noise. 

“Your dislikes?” reminded Kakashi. 

Her eyes became a hellish inferno. “ _Ino_ ,” she said loathsomely.

“Okay,” said Kakashi, somewhat off put by her passionate hatred for the other girl. Naho had mentioned disliking her too, but seemed much less vehement about it. “Last but not least.” He vaguely gestured toward Sasuke.

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha,” he said. “I hate a lot of things, and I don’t particularly like anything. I don’t have any hobbies. And my dream...I would call it more of an ambition. To kill a certain man, avenge my clan, and restore it to its former glory.”

A gloomy atmosphere settled over the area. Naho shivered. Sakura’s face was pale. Kakashi felt like he was staring into a mirror. He’d been the same way at the age of twelve, a while after his father had died and he was chock full of hormones and angst.

“Good!” said Kakashi. “You’re all unique and have your own ideals. Well, with that out of the way, we’ll have our first mission tomorrow.”

“What is it? What is it? What is it?” pestered Naho in rapid succession.

“It’s a fun task the four of us will do together. A survival exercise.”

“I thought we were supposed to have real missions!” Sakura said indignantly. “Not more practice! We already did that in the academy, that’s how we got here.”

“This isn’t like your other training.”

“Well what kind of training is it then?” Naho chimed in.

Kakashi laughed derisively.

“Hey, that’s a normal question,” said Sakura. “What’s so funny?”

“Well, see, if I tell you, you’re not going to like the answer.”

“Tell us anyways,” she implored.

“Of the twenty-seven graduates from the Academy,” he said, “only nine will actually be accepted as Genin. The other eighteen will be sorted out and sent back. In other words, this’ll be a make-it or break-it scenario. Pass-fail basis. You win, or you lose.”

None of them were amused.

“See?” he cackled. “Didn’t I say you wouldn’t like it?” 

“What?!” Naho said. “What was the graduation exam even for then?!”

“Oh, that,” said Kakashi, waving a hand dismissively. “That was to see who had the potential to become Genin. They might. Or not.”

“That’s so...so...so unfair!”

Kakashi shrugged. “That’s how it is. Meet me at the designated training spot at 5:00AM. Bring your ninja gear. Maybe you’ll pass the little test. Probably not. That’s it. You’re dismissed. Oh, and tomorrow you should skip breakfast. Or you’ll puke.” He disappeared over the rooftops. 

The three all felt a rushing panic and determination to pass, mixed with a healthy dose of fear. It was a potent cocktail of emotion.

=====================================================================

“And he says that we should skip breakfast or we’re gonna’ throw up!” complained Naho to the Hokage that evening.

“Oh, Kakashi talks a big game, but he’s not all that scary.”

“Easy for you to say! You’re the Third Hokage! You’re stronger than him!”

Sarutobi exhaled from his nose in amusement. He wasn’t going to spoil Kakashi’s exam, considering it was the one he’d used back when he was a Jonin instructor, but he found it very funny how much panic it induced. “Well,” he said, “if you want a good chance tomorrow, we should keep practicing the Body Flicker.”

“Uh-huh.”

Roughly two hours later, Naho had a solid handle on the technique. She wasn’t great with it yet, but it gave her the kind of speed boost that would be helpful against someone as fast as her new instructor.

“Hey, old man,” said Naho from the floor. She was lying down, basking in her own exhaustion. “Why...why didn’t you tell me about the Nine-Tailed Fox?” She was confident he knew what she was referring to. 

Sarutobi pursed his lips. “Ah, Mizuki…” he said. “What a big mouth. But I will tell you. The reason I kept it secret was to spare your feelings. If you’d known about it, and therefore knew why so many of the villagers dislike you...well, you might have believed you were the monster itself, just as they did. I didn’t want to do that to you. Sealing the beast inside you wasn’t my decision. It was the Fourth Hokage’s.”

“Wait, what?” said Naho. Her blood ran cold. She’d always idolized the Fourth, but this shifted things. “Why - why would he do that to me?”

“It was the only option.”

Naho felt like that was a lie. Surely there was a better choice available. But she kept her mouth shut. Something told her no matter what she said, the Third Hokage would make excuses for the Fourth.

=====================================================================

Sakura had invited Naho over after her practice with the Hokage so they could brush up on technique. She’d originally asked Sasuke to join her, but he’d rebuffed the advance.

“This is stupid,” said Naho, falling back on Sakura’s bed and letting the book she’d been attempting to read land on her face. “Reading is stupid.”

“Figures you’d say that,” said Sakura. “I swear, you must be allergic to books.”

“I just learn better by doing things,” Naho replied. “Theory isn’t helpful.”

“Theory’s always helpful. We should probably go to sleep, we have to be there at 5:00AM tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Naho said. “See you tomorrow, I’m gonna’ head out.”

“Wait! Did you want to stay the night? I mean, since it’s already after dark and all.”

“Oh, um, I’m good,” Naho said, trying to come up with an excuse. She actually liked the idea, seeing as she’d never had a sleepover before, but she didn’t want to intrude. “I need to do my laundry anyways. My jumpsuit’s kinda’ dirty after training.”

“Why do you wear that thing anyways?” said Sakura. “It’s not exactly cute, no offense.”

Naho blushed brightly and quietly admitted, “It’s one of the only things I have. I can’t afford much else…”

Sakura felt a pang of sympathy and a rush of guilt for asking the question in the first place. “I’m sorry,” she said. “If you want to borrow something from me sometime, feel free. And I think I probably have some stuff that’s too small for me now that’d fit you.”

“Are you calling me short?”

Sakura looked her up and down. “Naho,” she said straight-faced, “You’re barely over five feet. You’re tiny.”

“Rude! Just you wait, I’ll have a growth spurt one of these days, and then I’ll be taller than you!”

“Uh huh,” said Sakura, obviously unconvinced. “Anyways, are you sure you don’t want to stay? I’ll lend you something clean to wear in the morning.”

Naho thought about it for a moment. “Okay,” she said. “Thanks.”

=====================================================================

In hindsight, Naho realized staying the night at Sakura’s might not have been the best idea. Her morning routine was extensive, and she woke up at 3:00AM so she could be at the training ground by the agreed upon time. It made it harder for Naho to sleep with her milling about and getting ready, but she was a heavy sleeper, so she fell back into a slumber with relative ease. What really made her regret staying the night was Sakura gently stirring her around 3:45, and trying to convince to put more effort into being a person than she wanted to that day.

“Mmm? Wha’ isit?” mumbled Naho, rubbing her eyes drowsily. 

Sakura smiled sweetly. “Don’t you wanna’ get ready?” she asked. 

“Wha’s there to get ready?” she yawned. “I just need get dressed.”

“What about showering? And your hair? And brushing your teeth?”

“Too —” she paused, unable to prevent herself from yawning again. “Too tired. I’ll just do it tonight.”

Sakura gave an incredulous look. “No way,” she said. “You’re okay with looking like you just rolled out of bed?”

“Uh...yeah, pretty much.”

Sakura shook her head. “One of these days I’ll teach you how to be a normal girl.”

Naho shut her eyes again.

=====================================================================

When the two girls arrived at the training ground, their teammate looked just as tired as they were. Not having eaten breakfast didn’t help either, especially for Sakura, who had skipped dinner last night, and Sasuke, who was on his second day in a row without breakfast.

“Mornin’,” murmured Naho and Sakura. Sasuke didn’t reply.

The trio waited for several hours, and eventually, Naho had decided to get some extra sleep on the grass. Sakura wasn’t entirely pleased with that, since she’d lent Naho a pair of shorts and a top which she didn’t want to get grass stains. 

Sasuke seemed to think that Naho’s idea was a good one, though he’d never admit it. He didn’t go so far as sleeping, but he rested his back against a stump and shut his eyes. 

At last, when the sun was high in the sky, Kakashi arrived. “Hi there,” he said. 

“You’re late!” screamed Sakura, waking Naho, who echoed the sentiment.

“Sorry about that,” said Kakashi. He didn’t act very apologetic. “I crossed a black cat, so I had to go the long way around.” Nobody believed him. He showed the team two bells that he was dangling with his left hand. “Today’s assignment is to take these bells from me by noon,” he said. “Those who can’t don’t get lunch.” He pointed to three wooden posts nearby. “They’ll be tied to one of those, and I’ll eat _my_ lunch before your very eyes.”

Naho’s jaw dropped. “ _So that was the point in telling us not to eat_ ,” thought Sasuke in annoyance. 

“Hold on,” said Sakura. “Why are there only two bells?”

“There are only two so at the very least, one of you will have to be tied to the logs. That person will be disqualified for failing, and sent back to the academy. It’ll be one person at least, but it could be all three of you. You can do whatever you like to succeed. You won’t be able to take the bells unless you come at me meaning to end my life.”

“But that’s dangerous!” Sakura objected.

“Yeah, you couldn’t even avoid an eraser!” agreed Naho.

“In the world of ninja, those who complain tend to be weak,” said Kakashi. “So I suppose I’ll just ignore the loser.” He shot a look at her.

“ _Loser, loser, loser._ ” The word reverberated in Naho’s mind. “ _Ignore the loser_.” How many times had she heard that phrase? It had to be over a hundred by now. “I’ll show you who the loser is!” she yelled. She ran at Kakashi with a kunai knife tight in her grip, determined to defeat him. In an instant, her arms were tight in his grip and behind her back. “ _His speed makes mine look like a joke!”_ she thought.

“Next time,” he said, “wait until I give the signal to go ahead. Though, I admire your spirit and intent to kill. How should I phrase this? I feel like...you guys are finally starting to grow on me. Anyways, we’re going to begin. Ready? Start!”

=====================================================================

Iruka requested to have tea with the Hokage so he could figure out who Naho’s Jōnin instructor was, but what he’d ended up learning was a nightmare. He flipped through the handbook that Sarutobi had handed him, finding page after page of students who’d failed his test. Given that Kakashi had only been a Jonin instructor for three or four years now, rather than a member of ANBU, that said a lot. Things weren’t looking good for Naho.

=====================================================================

Sakura and Sasuke had both decided to conceal themselves when Kakashi began his assessment. He’d even closed his eyes and given them one minute to do whatever they needed. But hiding had never been Naho’s style, unless it was necessary. And her new teacher made her furious. She wanted a fight, and by God, she was bringing it to him.

“Yo!” she said when he opened his eyes. “Let’s do this thing! You. Me. Here. Now.”

“You know, compared to the others, you’re a little strange.”

“The only thing strange here is your haircut!” Naho retorted.

“Says the girl wearing pigtails,” Kakashi sniped back. Naho blushed. She’d forgotten that Sakura had insisted on putting her hair up for her just before they left.

“Whatever!” She ran toward him, but froze when he reached into a pouch on his hip.

“Shinobi battle techniques, part one,” he said. “Taijutsu — the physical art.” He pulled out an orange book, with a cover right at home on a trashy romance novel. On the back, there was large, red lettering that said 18+. A circle with a slash through it went through the warning. Anyone else her age might not have been able to recognize the nature of the book, but she'd grown up in an apartment in the Red Light District. She knew exactly what it meant.

“What are you doing?” said Naho.

“Reading. See, with your feeble attacks, it doesn’t really matter if I’m distracted or not. No go on, attack me,” he encouraged.

She saw red. “Oh, fuck you, dude!” She couldn’t believe him. Reading during combat would have been insulting enough, but reading something that was so obviously _porn_? That crossed a line. 

“My my, such a foul mouth,” Kakashi taunted, avoiding each of her attacks with ease. Suddenly, Naho found a tight grip on her left arm. “When facing off against a larger opponent,” he lectured, “be wary of their size.” She was flying through the air, and then she felt frigid liquid envelop her entire body. She was in a lake.

“ _Great_ ,” she thought sardonically. “ _He’s faster than me, he’s stronger than me, he’s bigger than me, and he’s probably got more tricks up his sleeve_. _What have I got? Not much...maybe five Jutsus, six if I’m counting the Sexy Jutsu_. _I mean, he was just reading porn_. _Maybe I should count it_.”

Naho formulated a plan. 

=====================================================================

When Kakashi had thrown his new pupil into an ice cold pool of water, the last thing he expected was a platoon of Shadow Clones to come leaping out of its depths. Yet, here he was. It wasn’t too difficult to fight the group though. Numbers only counted for so much. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than this,” he said. “If this is your plan, I hate to say it, but it won’t work.”

“It’s not my plan,” said a voice from behind him. He quickly turned around to see Naho. That was interesting. He’d heard the rumor that she could use Shadow Clones, which was clearly true, but the Body Flicker Technique wasn’t a skill he’d anticipated.

“ _T_ _he third time in a week_ ,” thought Naho. “ _Ugh, I’ve gotta' learn something better_.” She shoved her feelings aside and exclaimed “Sexy Jutsu!”, transforming into the voluptuous figure that accompanied the technique. “Oh, Kakashi,” she said in a seductive, cloying voice. She crept up close to him.

Kakashi was trying to disguise his reaction to the figure standing before him, but it was awfully difficult. For one, it was quite distracting. But he didn’t want to do anything, considering that he knew that the woman was his new student in disguise, and pervert or no, he still had morals. He froze up, and looked away, gazing off in the distance. 

“ _Gotcha_ ,” thought Naho triumphantly. In the moment her teacher was distracted, she swiped a single bell. Kakashi’s hand brushed across his hip when he realized, but it was too late. She’d done it. She’d passed his test. Naho dispelled her Jutsu, and stepped back. She dangled the bell from her hand. “So, about that lunch,” she said.

Kakashi sighed. “I can’t believe I fell for that,” he said. “Well played. Eat your lunch now or later, it makes no difference. But wait for your teammates before you go home.” Something about his voice wasn’t as congratulatory as it should’ve been.

“Alrighty!” said Naho jovially.

=====================================================================

Sasuke wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not. He wanted to believe that a bell was possible to secure that easily, but if _Naho_ of all people had done it, this had to be a Genjutsu. If it wasn’t though...well, it looked like Kakashi was focused on talking to her. Sasuke reached into a pouch on his leg, and pulled out several kunai knives and shuriken. He threw them at the Jonin, and for a second, Sasuke thought his attack had landed. Until Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a log full of weapons. “ _Damn it_ !” thought Sasuke, already fleeing. “ _Of course!_ _The Substitution Jutsu! I should’ve known better than to think he’d let his guard down!_ ”

Kakashi was able to track down Sasuke with little difficulty. Perhaps it was because the Jonin was faster, or maybe it was because Sasuke had given away his exact position with his failed assault, but either way, it worked out in his favor. “Hi,” he said from behind the boy. 

Sasuke jumped what felt like several feet in the air. He was sure he hadn’t actually moved that much though. He didn’t like it when people snuck up on him, or really, surprised him at all. It made him feel weak, exposed. In his opinion, nothing and no one had the right to do that. 

Two Fire-Release Jutsus and a quick bout of combat later, Sasuke was embedded in the ground like a whack-a-mole.

=====================================================================

Sakura knew that Jōnin were the cream of the crop, willing to kill on a moment’s notice, but this...this was too far. As far as she knew, Sasuke was lying on the grass, covered in wounds, and bleeding out. In reality, he was alive and well. Defeated, yes. But killed? No. What she was seeing was only a Genjutsu. 

Kakashi had heard that back at the Academy, Sakura had a proclivity for detecting and performing this sort of thing. Just as he’d been told that Naho’s best skill was Taijutsu and Sasuke’s was Ninjutsu. He was disappointed. They could have been a great team, if only they’d worked together. He came up behind her, shocking her into a dead faint.

=====================================================================

“I’m dropping you all from the program,” Kakashi said indifferently.

Sakura felt like a cat put out in the rain. Her heart wilted. So much for becoming a masterful kunoichi and being on a team with Sasuke and Naho (who she was, though she might deny it, really coming to like). And odds were, so much for being Mrs. Uchiha someday.

Sasuke’s rage bubbled like water in a tea kettle, and a blazing inferno erupted in his soul. This couldn’t be the end of his goals. He needed to kill Itachi. He needed to avenge his clan and restore it to its rightful place at the center of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Naho’s anxiety shot through the roof, and it was like a bolt of lightning had struck her heart. She was pretty sure a Hokage had to be a ninja first, but if she was being dropped from the program, being a ninja didn’t appear to be a possibility at all. What was more, Kakashi’s words confused her. Why drop her from the program? She’d passed his test, hadn’t she?

“No!” objected Sakura and Naho simultaneously. “It doesn’t make sense!” said Sakura.

“Yeah!” corroborated Naho. “And I thought you said we’d go back to the Academy if we failed! Why’d I fail in the first place?! I got a bell, didn’t I?”

“Actually,” corrected Kakashi, “it does make sense. You see, this test was never about the bells. It was about teamwork.”

“Teamwork?” asked Sasuke. His face twisted, as if the very idea of working with Naho and Sakura disgusted him.

“Yes,” Kakashi answered. “I’m a Jōnin, and you’re all Genin. You should have known that securing a bell was a nearly impossible task. Naho did it mostly out of luck.” The aforementioned girl scowled. “Still, if you all worked together, I’m sure you might have been able to secure both bells. You didn’t.”

“But there were only two bells!” said Sakura. “Why do that when you knew there were three of us?”

“You’re right,” he said. “There were only two bells. I intentionally pitted you against each other. But there are times when you have to prioritize a mission over yourself. That’s why I did that. But you were so blind to that because you three only care about yourselves! Sakura, you were so focused on Sasuke that you completely ignored your other teammate, and your own skills. Sasuke, you thought you the others were so far beneath you that you believed them worthless.” His expression was hard to suss out from underneath his mask and monotone delivery, but even then, the three knew he was fuming. “And Naho...you’re the worst of all. You do everything on your own. Everything.” 

Sakura and Naho paled under his one eyed glare. Even Sasuke looked slightly whiter than usual.

“Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course, you do need individual skills. But teamwork is far more important. Every worthwhile shinobi understands that. When individuals put themselves above the squad, it leads to failure, and death.” He pulled a kunai knife from his weapons pouch, and put it up against Sasuke’s throat. He was pinned underneath Kakashi’s foot. “For example. Naho, kill Sakura now or Sasuke dies.” She looked to her friend who was tied up against one of the wooden posts. The two girls started to panic, but Kakashi lowered the knife. They breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s what happens on a mission,” said Kakashi. “The enemy takes a hostage, and somebody winds up dead. During every single mission, you are risking your life.” He walked over to a large black monument. “Did you see this stone?” he asked. “The names engraved upon it, those are the names of the ninja recognized as heroes in our village.” 

Naho grinned. “Seriously?! That’s awesome! Now I what I want to do with my life! I’m gonna’ be Hokage and get my name engraved on that stone if it’s the last thing I do! I’m gonna’ be a hero!” 

Kakashi glanced over at her. “They are a special kind of hero,” he warned. 

“What kind?” said Naho. “Seriously, tell us!” 

“They were all KIA.”

“What’s that mean?” said Naho. “It sounds like a really cool job!”

Sakura looked at her seriously. “Naho,” she whispered, “it means killed in action.”

Her spirit plummeted. “Oh.”

“This is a memorial stone,” said Kakashi, in a tone that brooked no response, not even one of sympathy. “The names of my closest friends are engraved here. More than I can count.”

His students didn’t know what to say.

“So,” said Kakashi, shaking off his display of vulnerability. “ _That's_ why you’re being dropped from the program. Because you have zero potential to care for something outside of yourself. Naho, eat the second lunch if you want, but don’t share with those two.” He pointed to Sasuke and Sakura, tied up against the wooden posts. “I’ll know if you do. And trust me, I will make you regret it. If you follow the rules, maybe I’ll give you a second chance.” A second later, he was gone.

“Damn it,” said Naho. “So...that’s it? We’re supposed to just quit?”

“I guess so,” said Sakura dejectedly.

Sasuke let out a grunt. Naho wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it.

“You can have the lunch, if you want,” said Naho. She decided she wouldn’t be eating the second bento box. “I already ate and I’m already dropped from the program, so he can’t really do anything. And it’s not like any of us'd be useful hungry if he gave us another shot.” She grabbed the bell from her shuriken pouch. “Do either of you want this? A keepsake to prove how much we suck?”

Sakura chuckled, in the way people do just after crying, once they’ve been consoled. “I’ll take it,” she mumbled.

“Here,” said Naho, cutting Sakura down from her ropes. 

Sasuke was still scowling in his position face down on the ground. “Hey, emo boy,” said Naho. “You wanna’ eat?” She’d already handed a pair of chopsticks to Sakura, and set the bento down on the ground.

“I don’t need your help, idiot.” 

“Alright, bastard. Have fun being hungry.”

Sasuke huffed. “Fine,” he said. He sat up, and Naho passed him a pair of chopsticks. “Why are you doing this?” he said suspiciously.

“Not eating sucks,” Naho replied. She knew what it was like to skip meals. Just one was nothing to her. There had been days where she missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But for someone else, it was probably much harder.

Sasuke still side eyed her, but he started to eat. Kakashi swooped down immediately, all darkness and intensity, like a giant bat. 

“You!” he said to Naho ferociously. “You broke the rules! I told you! Don’t share! I hope you’re ready for the punishment.” He performed a series of hand signs, and a collection of gigantic storm clouds formed overhead, turning the sky overcast. “Any last words?”

Sakura and Sasuke jumped in front of Naho to defend her. “She — she — she was only doing what was right!” stuttered Sakura. It was obvious that standing up to him was taking a great deal of courage. “So back off! She’s my friend! And we’re a team! Right, Sasuke?”

Sasuke reluctantly nodded. 

“Guys…” said Naho quietly. “They’re right!” she exclaimed. “We might be losers, but we’re still a squad! The three of us...the three of us are one!”

“The three of you are one, huh? That’s your excuse?” He started walking towards the group menacingly. When he reached them, his expression switched quickly. “You all pass,” he said, with a smile crinkling his one visible eye.

“Huh?” said Naho and Sakura. Sasuke didn’t react.

“Let me explain,” he said, “this was a second test. To see if you could learn from your mistakes, and develop teamwork. And you were able to do that. You’re the first to pass my test. All the others blindly followed my instructions. They couldn’t think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. So, welcome to Team 7! Our first mission is tomorrow.” He gave them a thumbs up, which seemed out of place from somebody like him.

Sakura and Naho chatted and complained about Kakashi’s tricks all the way back to the village, and Sasuke walked alongside them peacefully, occasionally weighing in with a noncommittal noise. 

Naho Uzumaki was finally a Genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is long, I know. I wanted to get the first 5 episodes of the anime out of the way, and move onto the Land of Waves Arc. That's because the Prologue is a little strange, so the quicker it's done, the faster we can move on to the Arcs we know and love (as well as the ways I change them, and maybe fuck them up, but hopefully not that second one).
> 
> So the shifts with the bell test were pretty small, and they didn't change the end result, but I hope you liked them.
> 
> The Land of Waves Arc might be a multi-chapter arc, or I might finish it off in one really long chapter. I absolutely adore the Chunin Exams Arc, and I'd like to write some fanfic for it soon, because that seems like a blast.
> 
> Give me whatever critique you'd like! Did you enjoy this chapter? Hate it? Are you someone who's read my other fic, and if so, how do you feel about this one? I'm open to hearing anything!
> 
> Yep! Sakura is going to be Naho's friend. I didn't want to bash Sakura, because she has the potential to be a good character; it's just that Masashi Kishimoto has no clue how to write women. I think with a bit of luck can fix that and write the women in this fic as interesting characters!
> 
> So, Naho doesn't like the Sexy Jutsu, even though she created it, and I was on the fence about that change, but I think I'm happy with it. I don't think anyone really likes demeaning themselves, and for a Fem!Naruto, performing that Jutsu probably feels way more humiliating than it does for Canon!Naruto to perform. In addition, I think she's probably more sensitive to the feelings of women regarding sexism than Canon!Naruto ever was, considering that she is a woman.


	2. The Land of Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the Land of Waves arc! What changes, what stays the same? You’ll have to read to find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the timeline of this arc, and certain events within it to better fit the concept of certain changes I wanted to implement in this chapter.
> 
> So, heads up, this version of Haku is a trans girl, and I wanted to make that clear. The pronouns I’m using are quite intentional
> 
> If I don’t mention something that happened in canon or replace it with differing events/dialogue, assume it happened off screen.
> 
> Sorry this took more than 7 months to put out, but I had a bunch going on and Zero to Hero is my more popular fic so I try to update that one more often.
> 
> I edited my username. From sugar___witch to salt_bitch.

_ **Chapter Two** _

Within the first three days of joining Team 10, it became abundantly clear to Ino that she needed to apologize to Naho for what she’d said in their last days at the Academy. At least, if she wanted Shikamaru to stop giving her the cold shoulder anytime soon. Even Choji, who she got along with a little better, wasn’t quite as friendly as he might have been. 

She understood their perspective and reasons. 

Firstly, Shikamaru had what was, to Ino, a crystal clear crush on Naho. Opposites attract, she figured. She did wonder if her teammate even knew he liked Naho in that way. In Ino’s experience, boys were so painfully oblivious about that sort of thing. 

Secondly, Naho had always run around with boys. Regardless of Shikamaru’s recent romantic interest (which she was definitely unaware of). 

Really, Ino didn’t see anything wrong with the friendship those three and Kiba shared. What she’d said wasn’t what she’d actually thought of the situation; but that had been a rather stressful day for her. Her father lectured her all morning on how she’d be needing to start taking on more clan responsibilities in the near future, and insisted that she get the top marks for kunoichi in her class. She knew that a lot of clan kids faced the same sort of expectations, but it was still a lot of pressure, and she took it out on the nearest person available. 

She did feel a little ashamed for her words and behavior. Her go to insults, usually reserved for Sakura, tended to be more creative. Besides, sexism wasn’t something she enjoyed engaging in. It was just that the vaguely misogynistic culture of the Village Hidden in the Leaves created an environment where several girls were at each other’s throats. Add in crushes on boys like Sasuke plus the start of puberty…it didn’t paint a pretty picture.

All of that aside, even if an apology wasn’t necessitated for the sake of teamwork, Ino probably would have gone for it. Naho wasn’t so bad, if Ino ignored the bizarre animosity some villagers held for her. So she stood before Naho’s dilapidated apartment one afternoon, and hesitantly knocked on the door.

Naho was confused when she heard a knock at her door. Nobody ever visited, except for the Hokage and Iruka on the odd occasion, and they always made sure she was aware of it beforehand. She stood from her spot at the dinner table where she was eating a very cheap dinner of boiled eggs. She was beyond broke for the next few days. Naho cracked open the front door slightly and peered out cautiously. “Oh,” she said, seeing Ino. “It’s you.” She frowned. “What do you want?”

“Sorry,” replied Ino, cutting to the chase. “I feel terrible about the other day. What I said wasn’t cool. Like, at all.”

“It’s...fine.” Naho meant it, for the most part. She knew what Ino was referring to, because what else could she be apologizing for? Though, she’d heard crueler remarks, often from adults. Ino’s insult had only hit so hard because it was the first of its type, one with gendered connotation, and therefore it was more shocking. “Thanks for apologizing.”

“Yeah, of course. Um, I have a present too.” She brought out a small vase of flowers from behind her back, and handed it to her peer. “Have a good night,” she said, turning away to go back home.

“Wait, Ino!”

She turned around. 

“Seriously, thanks. It was nice of you to say sorry. And these are really pretty flowers.” Naho beamed.

“Don’t worry about it. The flowers are from my family’s shop, by the way. You should come by sometime.” With that, she was gone as quickly as she’d arrived.

Naho stood at her door’s threshold for a moment, wondering after the other girl. Maybe there was more to Ino than she’d thought.

=====================================================================

A month into being a Genin, Naho was already fed up with it. She’d thought that she’d be going on missions that actually meant something, not helping out with gardening and doing menial labor. In addition, she and Sasuke were constantly at each other’s throats, with Sakura trying to keep the peace and complaining to Naho about it when the two hung out. She was at her limit after one particularly vexing mission, involving a lost cat, who’d attacked her face when she caught it.

“Serves the little bastard right,” she whispered to Sakura when the cat’s owner began to smother it in unwanted affection. Sakura frowned at her, and hissed something about empathy. Naho couldn’t be bothered to listen to it.

“Now then…” said the Third Hokage, “The next mission for Team 7 could be...an errand to the neighboring town to babysit the Chief Councillor’s son, help digging potatoes, dog sitting for the Inuzu —”

Naho stopped the list of their options with a dismayed wail. “Nooooooooo!” she complained. “No thank you! I’m done! No more of these stupid chore missions!” She pointed at her teammates. “I don’t know about these two, but personally, I’m ready for something a little more exciting!”

“ _She has a point_ ,” thought Sasuke. He was growing increasingly frustrated with the mediocre missions as well. 

“ _Geez, she’s gonna’ get us in trouble_ ,” Sakura fretted. “ _But honestly...I agree_.”

Sakura’s thinking was correct. Iruka, who was sitting at the table and reviewing missions with the Hokage, immediately yelled at Naho, scolding her for expecting to go on more impressive missions so shortly after graduating from the Academy. The Hokage launched into an explanation of mission rankings, and told the trio precisely why they were assigned to such trivial tasks. Naho didn’t care. 

“So what?” she said. “C’mon, at least give us a C Rank! We’ve done plenty of D Ranks by now, right?! Please?”

Sakura gently nodded her head, and Sasuke turned his head to the side, indicating that he refused to weigh in on the topic. Possibly because Sasuke would rather die than voice agreement with Naho.

The Hokage smirked and chuckled. “Okay, okay,” he said humorously. “I suppose there is one mission we could give you. You’ll be bodyguards.” 

“Bodyguards?” shouted Naho excitedly. “To who? A high profile target for assassins? Or,” and her second guess, she said very quietly. “Maybe a handsome prince?” She sighed softly. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura were all shocked by her seemingly non-platonic interest in the idea of a prince. As far as they’d been able to tell, romance was the last thing on her mind. Of course, they were mostly right. But some sorts of people are irresistibly attractive, and royalty fit solidly into that category.

The Hokage chuckled. “You’ll see,” he said. He looked toward a guard by the door who seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties. “Bring him in, please.” The guard nodded. 

The man who the guard brought in wasn’t a handsome prince. At all. He was a short man, a little older than middle aged, with a small potbelly, a goatee, and somewhat baggy clothes. The first thing he said was belligerent. “These pipsqueaks are supposed to protect me? They look like they’re barely out of grade school. Especially that small one with the dumb look on her face.”

“Hey, don’t talk that way about Sak ━” It took Naho a moment to realize he was talking about her. “Wait a minute…” She got a running start towards the man before Sasuke and Sakura held her back by the fabric of her top. She glared at her teammates, and Sakura gave an apologetic look contrasted by Sasuke’s arrogant smirk.

While the Hokage finished briefing them on their mission, Naho twiddled her thumbs and continued to shoot dirty looks in the client’s direction. In her opinion, it wasn’t wise to insult the people who were helping you. Though, he was paying, so maybe he’d afforded the right to be mean. That didn’t mean it was preferable though. 

=====================================================================

Once everybody had packed up their things, and the client, named Tazuna had griped some more, they went to the gate which was the only way in or out of The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Most of the Hidden Villages only had one entrance and exit, for the purpose of security and stealth. As the gate opened, Naho was impatiently shifting her weight between the balls of her feet and grinning widely.

“What’s got you so amped up?” said Sasuke with a judgemental look.

“I’ve never left the village before!” she explained. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Some would say that Naho was inordinately excited to leave the Hidden Leaf Village. What those people didn’t understand was that not only would this mission be her first time out of its walls, but it would also be her first time away from the hateful looks and poor treatment that came from so many villagers.

“Look,” said Tazuna to Kakashi, “are you sure I can trust this brat?” He pointed at Naho. “She seems a little unreliable.”

Kakashi understood Tazuna’s perspective. At first glance, and indeed, first impression, his pupil didn’t seem very skilled or trustworthy. She wasn’t stealthy or quiet in every action, like most ninjas. She was loud and rambunctious. But he knew that there was a lot more than met the eye, even if it hadn’t surfaced quite yet. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m a Jonin, and I’m watching over her, so you’ll be safe.”

The journey to the Land of Waves started off uneventful, and Sasuke and Naho spent the first half hour or more bickering, before Sakura snapped, her allegiance going to her crush rather than her friend.

Kakashi spotted a puddle of water and eyed it suspiciously. There shouldn’t have been water on a dry, bright day like that, especially when it had not rained in almost a week. He left it alone, knowing that somebody was likely going to ambush them, but needing some information regarding who their assailant’s target would be.

A moment after the group passed the puddle of water, Kakashi’s prediction came to fruition, and two ninjas burst out. Naho, Sakura, and Sasuke watched in horror as they wrapped a set of sharp chains around their teacher and murdered him in cold blood. The two ninja came for Naho next, and to her great terror, her legs were paralyzed. She couldn’t move at all, her fight or flight response having failed her.

Just as the two ninja cut her hand, Sasuke rescued Naho. He pushed the enemy to the side and redirected their chain hooks into nearby trees. From there he leveraged himself and knocked their heads together, hard. The two went down for the count.

Meanwhile, Sakura dove in front of Tazuna to protect him, just in case.

“Good job, Sasuke,” said Kakashi, emerging from the shadows.

“Wait, what?!” shouted Sakura. “We — we saw you die!”

“Substitution Jutsu.” He pointed to a smattering of split logs. “You too, Sakura. Good job protecting the client.” He patted her on the head.

Naho sat on the ground hyperventilating. She couldn’t believe it. The way she’d frozen up. The way that Sasuke, of all people, had needed to save her. The way that Sakura had been so put together and gone to protect Tazuna. Even Kakashi, who’d ultimately done nothing, was more useful than her. At least he hadn’t been a hindrance.

Sasuke looked at her with a mocking sneer. “You alright,” he said. “Scaredy cat?”

“I’m fine,” she gritted out. She clutched her hand tightly, hiding her wound from him.

Off to the side, Kakashi was talking to Tazuna. “Irregardless if you can afford it or not, had we known that you were being targeted by other ninja, this mission would have been ranked and staffed differently. Since you lied to us, we are now beyond the scope of this mission.”

“We’re Genin,” said Sakura gently “We’re not strong enough right now. Maybe we can find a better team to help you back in the village, and negotiate pricing.”

Kakashi sighed. “Either way, we’ll have to go back. Naho is injured, and those blades were poisonous.” He turned to her. “Sorry about that, by the way. I just didn’t think you’d freeze up like that.” Naho blushed brightly. “Don’t move. We need to open the wound to get the poison out of your bloodstream.”

“ _Why am I so different_?” she thought bitterly. “ _Why am I the only one who couldn’t do anything? Why am I so weak_?” Naho vowed then that she’d never feel this way again. She stood up, took a kunai in her left hand, and stabbed it into her other. Everyone’s eyes went wide, from shock, concern, or possibly both. “I promise,” she began slowly, “that I will never be the weak link again, and need somebody else to rescue me. I don’t back down, and I don’t run away. That’s my ninja way. I swear on this kunai, and the pain in my hand. Bridge guy. This mission isn’t over. We’re going to get you home, and protect you the whole way there.”

Kakashi looked at her worriedly. “Naho, that’s great and all, and it’s really wonderful that you got the poison out, but if you lose any more blood, you’re going to faint.”

“Oh. Help, please?” she whimpered. 

Kakashi walked over, and kneeled. He gently took her wounded hand only to find that, to his great shock, the gash was already closing up. The cut was healing so quickly that he could see it progress from a large, bleeding stab to a small, closed cut in less than a minute. He furrowed his brow. “ _That_ ’s... _unnatural_ ,” he thought. “ _Is it because of the Nine Tailed Fox_?” 

“Is everything okay?” Naho asked. Nervous sweat was beading on her forehead. “You look really serious.”

“Everything’s fine.” Kakashi took his canteen full of water, and poured some over her hand, if for no reason but to clean the blood off and be as sure as possible to avoid an infection. He wrapped her palm in some gauze afterward, and the group was on its merry way.

=====================================================================

Naho felt like she was going to vomit — she wasn’t, but that didn’t matter. Being faced down by this man was overwhelming. He wasn’t cut from the same cloth as the two brothers she’d encountered just after leaving the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They had been terrifying, yes. Yet… that duo still seemed human, however distanced from the rest of mankind they were. This foe was different. He was a weapon, a jackal, a demon. Naho could tell that not only had he killed before, but that he’d practically been baptized in blood.

“Get behind me,” said Kakashi, caution and urgency weighing upon each syllable. 

“Kakashi of the Sharingan,” said the other ninja. 

Sasuke’s face twisted more expressively than Naho had ever seen from him. It was a mixture of confusion, dread, anger and a hundred other unpleasant emotions. “What’s wrong?” she murmured to him quickly. They didn’t really have time to talk, given the present situation.

“I’ll tell you later,” Sasuke whispered back in an astringent tone. “ _Sharingan_ …” he thought, wondering what the enemy’s words meant. “ _Is Kakashi an Uchiha? No, that’s impossible. So what does this guy mean by Kakashi of the Sharingan_?” Sasuke’s question was answered a moment later, when Kakashi pushed up his Leaf Village headband, which he always used as a makeshift eye patch. Underneath it was a single Sharingan eye, with its tomoe already spinning wildly.

“Sorry, Zabuza. You’re too big a threat for me to play around with.”

“Oh, I’m flattered,” Zabuza taunted in a snarky tone. “Famous Kakashi thinks I’m a threat.”

Combat between the two began, not prolonged by any banter. 

=====================================================================

After the fight with Zabuza, Team 7 wasn’t intercepted for the rest of the way to the Land of Waves. Naho was glad for that, because with Kakashi out of commission from chakra exhaustion, she wasn’t sure that she, Sakura, and Sasuke could handle another foe. Certainly not one of Zabuza’s caliber. 

She wondered what chakra exhaustion felt like. If it could down someone like Kakashi, it had to be pretty nasty. She’d never truly run out of energy and hit her limit, so she was reasonably sure she hadn’t experienced it. The closest she’d come thus far was probably that night in the forest with Mizuki and Iruka, where she’d mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

“C’mon guys,” whined Naho, “help me pick him up!” Sakura and Sasuke were standing off to the side, the former claiming confidence in her friend. Sasuke refused to help unless Naho admitted he was stronger than her, and that would happen over her dead body.

“Oh, come on,” Sakura said. “The guy’s a scarecrow, how bad could it be?” 

Sasuke smirked. “I’m sure it’s harder when dead last over there’s so tiny.”

“I’m not small! And I’m not dead last!”

“You are kind of petite, Naho,” said Sakura, though she said it gently as she could. She let the dead last argument fall by the wayside. Technically, Naho was half right. She’d tied with Shikamaru for the bottom spot in their graduating class. “Anyways, I’ll help you out.” Facing across from the other girl, she took Kakashi’s legs and on the count of three, they lifted. It was harder than Sakura had been expecting. It seemed that despite his thin body, Kakashi was almost pure muscle, and he was a little over a foot taller than her, so for somebody as short as Naho, the size differential couldn’t be easy. 

Naho’s face was barely visible to Sakura from their positions on either side of their teacher, especially since they were avoiding bumping him into anything. Even with that taken into account, it was clear that she was scowling. “This is stupid!” she complained. “Tazuna’s bigger than us, why can’t he help?”

Sasuke gave her a derisive look. “Because, airhead, he’s the client.”

“Don’t call me an airhead! And unless you’re helping, shut up!”

“Whatever,” scoffed Sasuke.

=====================================================================

Kakashi didn’t wake again until nearly two days later. When he did, he still felt relatively fatigued. The first thing he saw was his three pupils huddled around his bed, Naho and Sakura looking worried, and Sasuke staring at him in a curious, somewhat accusatory manner.

“Kakashi!” exclaimed Naho and Sakura in unison. “You’re alright!”

Kakashi chuckled. “Yep,” he said amicably. “Or I will be, a day or two more of rest.”

Sasuke frowned. “So you’re still tired?”

Kakashi reluctantly said, “Yes. But that doesn’t mean you three can’t train.” A sadistic look gleamed in his eye. Sasuke examined his face more intently than he’d ever done before.

“I need to ask you something,” said Sasuke. “Privately.” 

“Okay,” said Kakashi. He had a very good guess as to what this was about. He looked at his other pupils pointedly.

The two girls looked at each other and Naho shrugged before getting up to leave. They were gone from the room pretty fast, and while Naho had wanted to eavesdrop, Sakura didn’t allow it.

“Why do you have the Sharingan?” asked Sasuke, back in the room. His jaw was clenched tightly.

“That’s a long story…” said Kakashi cautiously.

“I’ve got time.”

Kakashi sighed. He wasn’t getting out of this, but if anybody had a right to hear the story, it’d be an Uchiha.

“So it’s an implant?” Sasuke said, once he was done with the tale.

“Yes,” he said. “Why did you want to know…?”

“I thought I was the only one left. Who had the Sharingan. Me, and…” Itachi. The name was left unsaid, and Kakashi nodded.

“You are,” Kakashi said. “At least, who can pass it down.”

Sasuke’s lip twitched downwards. It wasn’t new information, but it was painful. He’d been avoiding reminders of his family for quite some time. His parents’ room was surely filled with dust by now, and Itachi’s was locked for good as far as Sasuke was concerned. Family photos had all been tucked away into a cabinet which remained perpetually unopened. The exception to the rule was the family symbol emblazoned on the back of his clothing. He had to find some way to take pride in the Uchiha name.

“Can you teach me?” he said abruptly.

Kakashi hesitated. He wanted to avoid too much favoritism, but the Hokage had assigned him a team with Sasuke for a reason. It would be lying to say he couldn’t train Sasuke anyways. 

On the other hand, the Hokage had also trusted the former ANBU to keep an eye on Naho, who’d recently been designated a flight risk. It was imperative he kept her safe and under his watch. A Jinchuriki becoming a missing nin would be dangerous for everybody, including Naho herself. 

Then there was the matter of Sakura. While she was from a civilian family, she had a fair bit of potential and Kakashi could see her becoming a great medical nin, given her chakra control. Devoting some time to her was probably for the best as well.

Kakashi had his hands full, that was for sure. But it was very tempting to give Sasuke extra time compared to the other two. He resembled the way Kakashi had been in his youth _so much_. And truth be told, Kakashi had never been good at resisting temptation.

“Yes,” he said. “Not now, but I will.”

=====================================================================

“Tree climbing,” said Kakashi jovially. 

Naho opened and closed her mouth a couple of times in surprise. “Are you kidding me?” she said. “I’m pretty sure we know how to climb trees. We learned, like, way early in the Academy.”

Kakashi chuckled. “This is a little different,” he said. “Just watch.” He put his feet against the tree and began to walk up it as though it were sidewalk. “See, the trick is to think of your chakra as a sort of adhesive, or a cushion. But be careful, because —”

A tumbling, crashing noise interrupted him. Sasuke had attempted to climb before Kakashi was done with his lecture and was subsequently repelled from the bark.

“As I was saying. If you use too much chakra, you’ll be repelled from the tree. Too little, and you won’t be able to stick on either. It’ll simply be like you put your feet there and laid down.”

Despite Kakashi’s warning, Naho’s start to tree climbing was rough. Similarly to Sasuke, she was repelled from the tree by her overuse of chakra. Attempting to fix that didn’t work out as she hoped; she’d reduced the quantity of energy too much. The goldilocks zone wasn’t coming all that easily either.

Sakura was the first to climb the tree, unsurprisingly. She’d always had the best chakra control. Sasuke was too arrogant and proud to ask for advice, but her other teammate wasn’t. And shortly after seeking help, Naho was working her way up the tree as well.

Even taking into account his stubborn refusal to ask for an assist, Sasuke managed to catch up quickly. His status as a prodigy wasn’t just for show.

=====================================================================

Naho had a penchant for overtraining, and on the morning after Kakashi started teaching tree walking, she left before sunrise, and trained out in the woods until she could barely move. Around 7:00AM or 8:00AM, while taking a nap in the grass, Naho was shaken awake by a tall, slim, unusually pretty girl. “Are you okay?” asked the stranger.

“Yeah,” said Naho. 

“Why are you out here?”

Naho grinned. “I’m training to get stronger!”

“But you look strong enough already.”

She shook her head fiercely. “No! No! I want to be better! I’m going to be the best ninja there is.”

“Is that for your own sake? Or someone else’s?”

Naho tilted her head in confusion. “Huh?”

The woman laughed ever so slightly. 

“Hey, what’s so funny?!”

“Do you have someone precious in your life?” asked the woman. 

Naho was only more confused. “Precious…? What do you mean?”

She frowned pensively before answering. “When a person has something they want to protect, someone precious, that’s when they can truly become strong.”

Naho remembered the night in the forest where she’d protected Iruka. She hadn’t ever been more skilled or powerful than in that moment. Then there was Inari’s dad, or Kakashi, or Iruka again. The Hokage too. They all had something greater than themselves to keep safe. 

She nodded. “Yeah! I have a bunch of precious people!” There was Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Sakura, Konohamaru, Iruka, Kakashi, and even Sasuke, though she was of the opinion that he was kind of a total jerk. 

“Good,” said the woman. “What’s your name?”

”Naho!” she said energetically.

”Nice to meet you Naho. I’m Haku.” And with that, Haku left.

=====================================================================

A little after noon, after a couple more hours of practice, Kakashi proposed heading back. Sakura was all for it, having a mastery of tree climbing from the beginning. The other two wanted to stay and continue training. Neither of them had the same grasp of it. At one point, Naho had fallen from nearly twenty feet up, and Kakashi had needed to catch her. Sasuke had tried to run up the tree when he felt sufficiently cocky. Like Icarus of Greek myth, he’d learned the hard way, and found himself on the ground.

“Don’t take too long,” Kakashi said, as he and Sakura left. “Dinner’s at 7:00.”

=====================================================================

By the time that Naho and Sasuke had reached the tops of the tallest trees they could find, they’d missed the 7:00 o’ clock deadline. Not by much, but they’d missed it regardless.

Naho felt like she could keep going higher and never want to come down. As though she were able to fly, and if only she stepped away from the safety of the branches, she would dance across the stars. Sasuke didn’t care much for that sort of thing. He’d just as soon walk into the ocean as he’d indulge the kind of thoughts she embraced. 

“We should go back,” said Sasuke. “It’s getting late.” He plucked a pine needle from the tree and rolled it in between his fingertips before flinging it to the forest ground below.

“What?” said Naho in a whiny, nasal sort of voice. “No way! That’s lame! Boooooooo! Sasuke, you suck.”

“Alright,” said Sasuke, baiting her. “I guess you’ll miss dinner. More for me.”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, while she fumbled for an adequate comeback. The retort never came, stuck on the tip of her tongue, where it nestled and lulled itself to sleep. “Yeah? Well! Wait up!”

Sasuke gave her a withering look. “Loser.” He was already a quarter of the way down the tree.

Scurrying down the branches, Naho found herself exhausted. She was treating what Sasuke saw as a leisurely journey as a race. On the ground, she fell back into the grass, panting hard.

“Come on, get up.”

“One sec,” she heaved. “I’m...tired...asshole.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, leaned down and picked her up.

“Hey!” she shouted. “I’m tired, not a damsel! Put me down!”

Another eye roll. “Yeah, you’re not a damsel, you’re a nuisance. I’m not waiting for you. So either get a move on or get on my back so I can carry you, like I always do.”

She grumbled and hopped out of his arms with expediency. Taking quick steps away from him she slowed down and her stomach growled. Eventually, when she tripped over a rock, she took Sasuke up on the offer and clambered onto his back. “You’re a jerk, you know that?”

“At least I’m not an idiot,” he remarked snidely.

“You’re that too!” she hotly shouted. Sasuke winced. Her face was quite close to his ear. “I’m surprised you can even carry me. I bet you use chakra for push ups.”

“You’re so small that I’ve lifted weights heavier than you.”

“I’m. Not. Small,” Naho gritted out slowly from between her teeth.

Sasuke let out a noise that could’ve been a laugh, if he’d let it. “Whatever,” he replied, snark woven into the word. “Runt,” he whispered under his breath.

When they reached Tazuna’s house, Naho ate more than anybody else. Her appetite was fierce, a trait that seemed intrinsic, but had actually been learned during the years in which she didn’t always know if she had enough money for food. 

“The weak always lose out...against the truly strong!”

Inari had been making similar claims ever since Naho and the team had arrived. He had made plenty of remarks about how they’d never be able to stop Gato, but him wailing on about how weak people always lose was her breaking point.

“Then you’re a coward,” Naho told Inari. “If you don’t think there are heroes, change it. If you think the weak always lose, become strong.”

“Shut up!” cried Inari. “Looking at you makes me sick! You came here and stuck your nose in, but you don’t know anything about this place! You don’t get it! You’re always acting careless, without knowing a thing about pain!”

“So crying fixes it?” she said quietly. “An idiot like you can sob forever, crybaby!”

“Naho!” scolded Sakura. “Don’t be so harsh!”

“Spare me, Sakura.” She stormed off. 

If Inari had said the same things to Sasuke, he would have done the same. Presuming things about people was a one way ticket to arguments and misunderstandings; saying that an orphan living in the heart of the Red Light District didn’t know about pain was a touch insensitive.

“Are you okay?” said Sakura, walking into her and Naho’s small bedroom. Naho was sitting with her back against the wall, playing with a kunai. 

Naho nodded. “Kids like him just piss me off.”

“But why? I mean, it’s natural to cry about the things that upset you.”

Naho frowned. “Maybe. Me, I’m sick of it.”

=====================================================================

The next week or so was quiet, and after watching over Tazuna and the rest of the bridge workers, Naho immediately went to train. She spent the afternoons and evenings there, alternating between tree walking, practicing her (admittedly few) Jutsus, and working on improving her mediocre skill with kunai. 

Consistently, Haku would come to watch Naho during the later parts of her training routine, and Naho found that for however quiet she was, her gentle presence was comforting. On the third night that she came to watch, when Naho asked about it, Haku said, “You’re interesting.”

Naho was curious about Haku, who refused, in her perfectly subtle and polite way, to answer questions about herself. Not out of any sort of rudeness, more out of a desire for privacy. Obviously, Naho and Haku lived in different places, but Naho liked to think they could be pen pals.

Naho had never had a friend like Haku, who liked her when they first met, not later. Sakura had become friends with her only recently. Shikamaru and Kiba had to get to know her first; they were convinced as children that girls weren’t cool, and Naho was the least cool of the lot. Choji came around sooner, being the kindest of her peers, but even he took time. The jury was still out on Sasuke. Haku was different. Haku was a new and special experience. 

“I used to be a boy,” Haku told Naho one night, while she was taking a break from training to drink some water and stretch. “I mean, I was born with the wrong body. I’m a girl now.”

Naho bumped her head up against Haku’s shoulder. “That’s cool. You’re happy, right? That’s all that matters.”

Haku had grinned cheek to cheek.

The next night, Haku told Naho she was likely leaving town in the next few days.

“Me too,” said Naho. The bridge was very near completion. “My team and I, our mission is over soon. We can write to each other though.”

Haku’s face fell in a rueful expression. “I’m on the road a lot,” she said. “But if you want.”

Naho nodded vehemently. “That’s okay. We can still write to each other.” 

Haku smiled. “That would be nice.”

=====================================================================

Naho didn’t take too kindly to being left behind by her teammates. Rest or no rest, she was supposed to be protecting Tazuna too, and anyways, she recovered from injury and exhaustion much faster than the others.

It worked out for the best, considering that she was able to protect Inari and Tsunami. Though, as far as she was concerned, she was late for the fight. It occurred to Naho as she leapt through the forest that things could be worse. It seemed like she hadn’t slept through the entirety of Gato’s attack on the village; she’d only missed the beginning.

Naho didn’t expect the battle to involve being trapped in a chilly dome of mirrors. In hindsight, Sasuke was right. She should’ve broken the dome from the outside. The thought just hadn’t occurred to her. Aside from that, whoever this woman was, she was quick. Too quick. Naho’s eyes couldn’t keep up with her, much less Naho’s body.

She and Sasuke had barely made it ten minutes before they were running on empty. Naho was riddled with senbon, and so was Sasuke. Sharingan or not, if his body couldn’t keep up with his eyes, it was pointless. What surprised him and Naho both was when he dove in front of her to protect her from an attack that might have been fatal. It proved to be too much. He passed out within moments. 

Rage. Rage. Rage. Nothing else mattered, and by God, she was going to destroy the woman who’d killed Sasuke. A rush of energy filled her body to the brim; she felt like she’d been struck by lightning. Naho was barely aware. She was in a fugue state at best, lacking control over her actions.

Haku wasn’t able to respond in time. In seconds, she pinned to the ground, immobile. The sheer speed and power of Naho’s attack had caught her off guard. A kunai sliced right into her navel, cutting her open. Haku began to bleed heavily. After a few more punches to the face, it stopped. Haku’s mask had shattered into bits. 

Haku’s face came into view, and Naho regained her senses quickly, leaping off of her. She screamed to the high heavens and stared down at her hands in horror. They looked as though they’d been dipped in a thin maroon paint. 

Haku was barely breathing. Her chest was heaving, her kimono stained crimson. Her face had been cut and bruised by the heavy mask she wore continually being pounded into it. “Hush,” she murmured tenderly. “This was bound to happen. We were enemies from the start.” She pulled Naho’s face down to hers and placed a quick and gentle kiss on her lips.

On the other side of the battlefield, through the fog, Kakashi heard Naho scream. He could still feel the sickening chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox pervading the air, but it was fading away slowly, which only made him more sure she’d been injured. His Chidori Jutsu quieted down, until the birdlike chirps faded into nothing. Silence amplified the tensions of combat. The only noise came from the dogs who kept Zabuza in place. Despite his worries, Kakashi stayed still, knowing that if he moved, Zabuza might find an out. If that happened, the situation might become worse. Chidori had drained his chakra further, even though he hadn’t completed it. It was only a matter of time before he lost the advantage. He had a bit of chakra left in him, certainly enough for some simple jutsus, but anything impressive would consume the last of his energy. His summon would last another half hour or so, if he was lucky. “Sakura!” he shouted, “I have Zabuza handled, find Naho!”

Sakura grabbed Tazuna’s wrist and dragged him along with her just in case. When the pair came upon Naho the image wasn’t something she had expected. Naho’s opponent was dead. She was sobbing, draped over the body.

Sakura knew that something was off. The scream. The corpse. Naho was physically fine, so why was she crying?

“Naho?” she said, quiet and soft. “Naho...?” She moved closer to put a hand on her teammate’s shoulder.

Naho’s head swiveled on a dime. Her eyes were bloodshot. The rest of her face was red and blotchy, streaked with tears. “Why did it have to be her?” she asked softly, broken. Then more violently, far louder, “Why did it have to be him?! Why couldn’t it be me?! Why?!”

Sakura felt nervous. It sounded like two people had died. There were only seven people on the bridge, at least four of whom she was positive were alive. Zabuza’s status seemed nebulous and she hadn’t seen or heard Sasuke. “What do you mean by him?”

“S-Sasuke i-is,” she stuttered, cutting off. But it was enough for Sakura to know. Her eyes blew wide. The fog was nearly gone. She could see Kakashi from where she was, and Zabuza’s silhouette. A short distance away, she saw another figure, limp on the ground. The mist finally cleared a couple minutes later, and she knew it was Sasuke. 

=====================================================================

Gato arrived shortly after Haku died, with a horde of mercenaries, thereby removing whatever conflict he and Haku had with Team 7. In hindsight, Naho would find herself wishing he’d shown up before she killed Haku. Zabuza died fighting against Gato, taking the magnate down with him. The villagers, along with Kakashi and Naho’s shadow clones drove off whatever mercenaries remained.

It became clear that Sasuke was still alive when he replied to Sakura’s sobbing over him by asking her to get off.

Zabuza and Haku were given proper burials by Team 7 on a hill, and while the village was free, the victory felt a little hollow to Naho through her pain.

=====================================================================

Naho barely spoke on the way home to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. She answered questions when prompted, but other than that, she was unnervingly silent. She couldn’t stop thinking about Haku. She’d nearly killed Sasuke, and yet...she’d also loved, and lived, and lost. Haku was Naho’s friend. 

Naho had thought being a ninja would be easier than this. She knew she’d have to kill at some point or another, but the reality of it hadn’t hit until she’d actually done so. It was so easy to look at people like Mizuki or the Demon Brothers, and write off the enemy as evil. Faced with opponents like Haku, and yes, Zabuza, who had their own hopes and dreams, it seemed far more difficult. 

At the campfire one night, Kakashi pulled her aside. “Hey,” he said gently.

“Hey,” replied Naho.

“Are you okay?”

A moment of silence. “Yeah,” she lied.

“That was your first kill, wasn’t it?”

She hummed her assent.

Kakashi sighed. “I was seven years old when I killed my first enemy,” he said.“I can’t say I regretted it. She attacked first. It was the middle of a war. Strangely enough, I’m not sure what village she was from; or at the very least I’ve forgotten. But a little over fifteen years later, I can still remember one thing: her face. Being a ninja means you have to put aside your feelings during the mission. We’re taught that nothing is more important than the mission. Afterward though...sometimes you need to feel. It took me a long time to learn that.”

Naho didn’t reply. She wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Just think about it.” He stood up and walked away. 

=====================================================================

Naho did think about Kakashi’s cryptic advice. A lot. Half of her thoughts on the last day or so of the trip home were consumed by his words. The other half were entirely focused on Haku and the deep crimson blood that had covered her in her final moments.

Sasuke seemed to be irritated by Naho’s silence. He wasn’t used to going so long without an argument between them, and though he’d never admit it, a part of him enjoyed their shouting matches. He was even less used to her not wearing a smile, or laughing. She hadn’t even smirked or chuckled in three days, save for her last interaction with Inari and Tazuna. “What’s wrong with her?” he hissed to Sakura suddenly, when they were about two hours out from the village gates. He jerked his head toward Naho.

“Nothing,” said Sakura. She looked at their teammate with a sad, sympathetic smile. “She went through a lot on the bridge,” she whispered. “She thought you’d died, we all did. ...And then, well, killing Haku. I don’t really know much, but from what Naho said, it seemed like they met before Naho knew who she really was. They were...friends? She told me Haku kissed her, so maybe more.”

Sasuke’s expression soured further. He looked like he’d taken a sip of some particularly foul expired milk.

Naho turned around. She was walking ahead of the other two. That hadn’t changed. She always seemed to be in a hurry. “What’re ya’ guys talking about?” she said curiously. 

“Nothing,” said Sakura innocently.

“None of your business!” Sasuke replied harshly. He felt bitter over the way she’d bested an enemy who had defeated him, and the rate she’d improved at since leaving the Academy.

=====================================================================

Upon the team’s return to the Leaf Village, Naho isolated herself to such an extreme extent that she might as well have dropped off the face of the Earth. She was going on the third day of life as a hermit when a loud pounding sound at her door interrupted the flow of solitude.

“I’m coming!” she shouted. She waddled to the door in her pajamas. Pulling open the door, she was greeted by Sasuke’s frowning face. His eyebrows were so furrowed they looked almost like a unibrow. “What’s wrong?” she said, made worried by his fierce expression.

“What’s wrong?!” he snapped. “You’ve been missing for two days!”

“Oh,” she murmured. “Has it really been that long?”

Behind him, the door to her floor’s corridor opened. “Sasuke, I told you to wait up for me!” said a voice that Naho recognized as Sakura’s. 

“Tch,” scoffed Sasuke. “You were taking too long.”

Sakura folded her arms and pouted a little, but let the remark skate by.

“Hi, Sakura,” Naho said, less enthusiastically than either of her teammates would have liked. 

Sakura looked at her lank, greasy blonde locks concernedly. Naho had never been particularly interested in looking put together, but even then, Sakura had rarely, if ever, seen her so unkempt. “We, uh...haven’t seen you in a bit,” she started. “We were just a bit worried, you know?”

“Uh-huh,” agreed Naho. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was gone that long.”

“How do you not realize that?” Sasuke said with cold anger. “You skipped missions.”

Naho rubbed the back of her neck guiltily. “I dunno’, man. But Kakashi’s not mad at me, right?”

Sakura shook her head. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “You know him, if it bothered him he wouldn’t be late all the time.”

Naho laughed a little, but compared to before, it sounded less free and more careful. Like a child who had burned her hand on a stove, and learned better.

“C’mon, shower and get dressed,” Sakura encouraged. “We can all get ramen together, and I’ll take you shopping.”

“Alright,” she agreed. “But no shopping!”

“Sorry, they’re a package deal.”

Naho sighed and shook her head. Fifteen minutes later, she emerged from her apartment, clean and wearing real clothes for the first time in days. As the trio walked to Ichiraku Ramen, she turned to Sasuke and asked, “Hey bastard, I thought you didn’t like ramen?”

“I’ll make an exception this time, dead last.” Privately, Sasuke didn’t mind ramen, so long as it wasn’t the instant kind, which he regarded as a sodium filled nightmare.

“Thanks bastard,” said Naho. She punched his arm affectionately.

=====================================================================

“Sakura, come on,” whined Naho. “You’ve given me, like, a thousand things!”

“Just try it!” Sakura replied, waving the dress in front of Naho’s face. “I swear, it’ll look good!”

Naho sighed and took the dress. “I hate shopping,” she complained. She changed quickly, fumbling her way into the unfamiliar garment. Dresses weren’t her thing. The last time she could remember wearing one, she’d been nine.

“What are _you_ doing here?” said a voice from outside the changing room. 

“Uh, shopping, Ino-Pig. Duh!”

“I didn’t think they carried sizes big enough to fit over your forehead!”

As they swapped insults like a game of tennis, Naho slowly creaked open the door to the changing room and stepped out, uncomfortably folding her arms over her midriff. “Sakura?” she said cautiously. Sakura had insisted that Naho show her everything she tried on.

The argument forgotten, Sakura turned to Naho. “Ye — _wow_ ,” she breathed. Naho was a vision in blue. Quite literally. The navy colored fit and flare dress she was wearing was reminiscent of the ocean and was much less baggy than anything the village had seen her wear before. On somebody like Sakura or Ino, it may have been more mundane, but on her the change of pace was almost startling.

“Is something wrong?” Naho asked, guilt creeping into her voice. By default she assumed that she upset people. It was a consequence of her childhood. She was nervous about even being in the store; she was just waiting for the moment she got kicked out. Surprisingly, after nearly an hour, that moment hadn’t come. She figured it may have been since she was with Sakura.

“No, no! You just look really good in that, that’s all.”

“Oh,” said Naho. She was unable to keep a bashful smile off her face. “Thanks.”

Ino smirked from behind Sakura. “What a surprise,” she said, amused. “Never thought I’d see the day she wore a dress.”

Naho objected immediately. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Ino shrugged. “I’ve only seen you in that awful neon jumpsuit.”

Technically speaking, Naho hadn’t been wearing the orange swath of color for that long. She’d bought it two years ago, but given that it was practically all she wore, Ino and the majority of her peers probably couldn’t remember different outfits. 

Naho laughed. “Yeah, I guess.” She rubbed the back of her neck, and turned back to Sakura. “So...I should get it?”

“Definitely!”

“It does look good,” Ino admitted.

Naho looked at the pile of clothes Sakura had said yes to. She wondered how in the world she could pay for all of it. She pointed at the amassed collection, and leaned in closer to Sakura. “I can’t really afford all that…” she said quietly. It was embarrassing, but Naho had to keep most of her money for rent and food. She didn’t have parents to cover that, or an inheritance. Plus, now that she was a Genin making money from missions, she wasn’t receiving the monthly stipend for being an orphan. She was remarkably good about saving, but with her meager earnings, that only made a small difference.

“We just got an upgrade to A Rank pay for the Land of Waves mission being harder than expected, remember?”

“I- I guess. But we have to sort through some of this. There’s just way too much here. ”

Ino folded her arms, waiting for the two to finish their private conference. She could have continued her own shopping, but now she was curious. “What are you two talking about?”

Naho and Sakura spoke at the same time.

“None of your business, Ino-Pig!”

“We have to sort again.”

Ino gave Sakura a condescending look. “That’s the yesses?”

“Of course!” said Sakura crossly.

She looked down her nose at a few of the items. “Alright, Billboard Brow, step aside. Blondie, I’ll help you out.”

Naho looked back and forth between the two other girls. This was a difficult position to be in. On one hand, Sakura was her teammate and friend. They’d been getting closer, and she couldn’t imagine throwing that away. On the other hand, Ino had apologized to her a few weeks prior and seemed to be attempting to make peace, if not with Sakura, at least with Naho. She decided the middle road was best. “Um, Sakura was already helping, but if you wanna’ too, the more the better or whatever!”

Sakura sighed. “The phrase is ‘the more the merrier’.”

“Merrier, schmerrier!” Naho started to take apart the collection of clothing, putting the ones she didn’t favor into the no pile. Ino and Sakura moved several of those back, and had argued vehemently against any orange.

=====================================================================

Naho felt awkward about leaving the store in the blue dress she’d bought. Sakura and Ino insisted, but it was a little uncomfortable, if only because she didn’t know what to expect from anyone else. Bumping into a stranger certainly wasn’t in the plan. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, and kept her eyes fixed on the sidewalk.

A tight grip wrapped around her forearm and twirled her around to face a boy wearing a strange suit with points on its hood resembling cat ears. He had garish face paint on and somewhat sharp features. There was a particularly harsh element to his expression. “Hey,” he said irately, “aren’t you going to apologize?”

“Huh?” said Naho. “Did I do something wrong?”

“You bumped into me!”

“Oh, uh, sorry,” she told him, without much feeling. She was tempted to shrug, but thought better of it. “I didn’t realize.”

He studied her face for a moment, before saying, “Hey, you’re kinda’ cute. Wanna’ go out wi —” he was interrupted quickly. Not only by Sakura and Ino, but also by a girl who had something of a family resemblance with him. There was another boy with similar facial features standing by her. But whereas the girl seemed fondly exasperated, the boy looked like he’d sooner crush someone’s bones to dust than say a kind word. 

“Sorry, she’s busy,” said Sakura in tandem with Ino’s more direct “Nope.”

The girl from the other trio went with, “We don’t have time to flirt, Kankuro.”

“Oh come on, it’d just be one date.”

Yet another voice shut him down. “Nobody’s going out with anyone.” It was Shikamaru. Choji and Kiba were with him. 

Kankuro glared. “And who are you, her boyfriend?”

Naho turned bright red. This seemed like it was getting out of hand. All this talk of boyfriends and dates made her uncomfortable.

Shikamaru reluctantly shook his head. “Nope. Just a friend. But she’s got better things to focus on than foreigners.”

Sakura’s eyebrows shot up. “Hey, that’s right. The Village Hidden in the Sand and Village Hidden in the Leaves might be allies, but you still need reason to be here. Otherwise it’s trespass.”

Here the girl laughed. “You mean you really don’t know? We’re here for the Chunin Exams.”

It seemed like everybody but Naho knew what that meant. She was growing more and more confused. She figured it was best not to tip her hand though. She’d ask Sakura what the Chunin exams were later. Somewhere less public, with fewer people; she’d spare herself a lot of embarrassment.

“Well that doesn’t tell us much,” said Sakura. “We don’t even know your names.”

“I’m Temari,” she said. She pointed to the boy in the facepaint. “He’s my brother, Kankuro.”

The redhead with her looked listless, but his face betrayed an undercurrent of violence, like at any moment he would snap.

“What about Fire Crotch?” asked Kiba, with his usual lack of decorum.

Temari looked nervous, as though Kiba had picked exactly the wrong thing to say, but the moment passed without incident. 

“Gaara,” he answered. “of the Desert.”

“Fine,” grumbled Shikamaru. “Good luck. Come on,” he said to Kiba and Choji, “Let’s go.”

Ino and Sakura seemed to be on the same page, because they walked away too. Naho found herself dashing after to catch up.

=====================================================================

“What was that all about?” she asked, once there was some distance between them and the Sand ninja. “And what were you so grumpy about, Shika?”

Ino sighed. She thought it was pretty obvious why Shikamaru was irritated. But then, Naho could have a guy down on one knee with a diamond ring and still be unaware he liked her. 

“Nothing,” Shikamaru said. “They just bothered me. Especially that redhead, Gaara. He gave me the creeps.”

Sakura chimed in. “Yeah. The other one, Kankuro I think? He gave me the oogies too. That girl was the only one who seemed mostly normal.”

Excepting Kiba and Naho, everyone nodded in unison. Kiba was nonplussed about the whole scenario, and Naho still felt a little bewildered.

“Why are you wearing a dress?” asked Choji through a mouthful of chips. 

Naho pointed to Ino and Sakura. “They made me. Sakura forced me to go shopping, and then Ino decided to torture me too! They didn’t even let me get anything orange!”

Kiba shook his head sympathetically and clucked his tongue. “Shopping. Cruel and unusual. How could you?” It was somewhat hypocritical for Kiba to impugn shopping, considering how much he loved it. Granted, he mostly liked to look for the best dog food and cute booties to put on Akamaru when it got cold in the winter, but that still counted. 

Ino and Sakura rolled their eyes. “This is why she doesn’t know how to interact with other girls her age,” said Ino. “She only hangs out with you knuckleheads.”

Shikamaru put up his hands defensively. “I never said anything against shopping.”

“It looks good though, _right_ , Shikamaru?” Ino wiggled her eyebrows meaningfully.

“Yeah. I guess.”

Ino was frustrated. She set him up for the perfect compliment, and he says ‘I guess’ ? She supposed with Shikamaru, that was as good as it could get.

=====================================================================

“Hey Sakura?” asked Naho, once everyone else had gone their separate ways. “What are the Chunin Exams?”

Sakura seemed surprised. Maybe Naho had feigned understanding better than she thought. “You mean you didn’t know?”

Naho looked straight at her toenails, which Sakura was painting a neon orange and shook her head vigorously. “Nope!”

Sakura explained while she continued to paint, pausing only a few times to beg Naho to pick a different color of nail polish. By the end, Naho was so excited for the Chunin Exams that she could barely sit still.

“Kakashi just has to nominate us! After the last mission, we’re more than ready!” 

Sakura smiled slightly. She didn’t feel entirely ready, but Naho’s joy was contagious.

Kakashi handed out Chunin Exam forms the following morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s a wrap on the Land of Waves arc! Next will of course be the Chūnin Exams and Konoha Crush arcs, which I’ll likely be combining because Konoha Crush is so connected to the Chūnin Exams.


End file.
